1 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY  i 

NBW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 

ATLANTA   •    SAN   FRANCISCO  , 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited  i 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA  ^ 

MELBOURNE  ] 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd.  ' 

TORONTO  1 


THE 

BOOK  OF  JOB 


BY 

MOSES   BUTTENWIESER,   Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    BIBLICAL   EXEGESIS 
HEBREW    UNION   COLLEGE 
CINCINNATI 
AUTHOR   OF    "the    PROPHETS    OF   ISRABl, "'    - 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1922 

All  rights  reaerved. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


COPTBIGHT,   1922, 

• . , '  bt  the  macmillan  company. 

.S,6t  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  March,  1922. 


J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  «fe  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.B.A. 


TO  THE  BOYS 

WHO   HAVE   BEEN   MY   PUPILS 
AT 

THE  HEBREW  UNION  COLLEGE 

IN    AFFECTION    AND    ESTEEM 


PREFACE  ; 

Popular  appreciation  of  the  Book  of  Job  was  slow  to  come. 
It  was  not  until  modern  times  that  the  book  became  generally 
accepted  as  "one  of  the  grandest  things  ever  written  with  pen/' 
and  that  the  hope  expressed  by  its  writer  became  realized  ^a^C 
that  later  ages  might  bring  to  his  words  the  understanding  to  \^^^ 
which  the  minds  of  his  contemporaries  were  closed.     Strange 
though  it  may  seem,  this  is  in  reality  not  surprising,  for  up  to  ^  / 
the  last  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  selfsame  theology  ' '  ^ 
prevailed  against  which  Job  is  depicted  as  in  revolt,    tt  was      ^j 
a  theology  which  accepted  as  axiomatic  the  belief  in  indi-  (T)| 
vidual  material  retribution,  a  theology  which  discredited  human        \ 
reason,  and  attributed  divine  authority  to  traditional  lore  or        I 
mherited  beliefs,  and  because  of  the  complete  sway  which  this 
theology  held  over  their  minds,  men  through  the  ages  were  as 
unable  to  understand  the  spiritual  issues  described  in  the  Book 
of  Job  as  were  the  orthodox  friends  of  Job  in  the  writer's  own 
day.  ^  Another  serious  theological  barrier  to  the  understanding 
of  Job  through  the  centuries  was  the  dualistic  conception    :.y 
rooted  in  paganism,  with  its  Nature-worship  and  deification 
of  physical  forces,  which  from  about  the  time  the  Book  of  Job 
was  written,  exercised  an  ever-growing  influence  over  the  thought        ; 
of  the  world.     By  setting  up  the  other  world  against  this        \ 
one  and  exalfmg  the  supernatural  above  the  natural.  Dualism*      t 
fostered  modes  of  thought  and  a  spiritual  outlook  which  weret'***^ 
fundamentally  opposed  to  the  religious  spirit  and  ideals  of       ; 
Job.      It  is  plain  that  as  long  as  the  goal  of  human  endeavor       ; 
was  seen  in  the  life  to  come,  and  as  long  as  the  pursuit  of  truth       \ 
was  looked  upon  as  mere  presuraptuousness  inspired  by  the       I 


viii  PREFACE 

Devil,  men  could  not  possibly  have  any  real  understanding 
of  the  soul  struggle  depicted  in  the  drama  of  Job.  They  were 
perforce  incapable  of  understanding  how  Job  could  yield,  as 
«  be  did  momentarily,  to  doubt  and  despair,  and  yet  maintain 
his  faith  in  God,  or  how  he  should  emphatically  deny  all  hope 
in  an  hereafter,  when  obviously  the  solution  of  his  enigma  lay 
in  immortality  or  resurrection.  Above  all,  they  were  unable 
/')  to  grasp  the  positive  reasoning  that  runs  through  the  whole 
drama.  And  so  they  missed  the^two  essential  points,  the  hero's 
staunch  assurance  of  God's  presence  in  him,  withal  his  realiza- 
tion of  the  overwhelming  majesty  of  God,  and  his  conviction 
that  the  moral  law  inherent  in  man  is  the  supreme  reality,  the 
absolute  guide  for  human  life  and  conduct.  Through  the  two 
thousand  years  during  which  Dualism  held  sway  over  the  minds 
of  men,  the  Book  of  Job  was,  of  necessity,  "a  sealed  book," 
even  as  were  the  writings  of  the  prophets ;  and  not  until  men's 
minds  became  liberated  from  the  dualistic  thrall,  and  a  new 
era  in  the  progress  of  human  thought  set  in  with  the  thought 
and  tendencies  which  came  to  expression  in  the  second  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  any  adequate  understanding 
of  the  book  possible.  The  interpretation  of  Job  which  prevailed 
through  the  centuries  previous  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  shows  this  beyond  perad venture  of  a  doubt. 

As  early  as  the  Greek  translation  of  Job,  we  have,  I  believe, 

evidence  that  a  fixed  interpretation  must  have  been  current. 

Many  of  the  astounding  renderings  of  the  Greek,  many  of  the 

)  most  perplexing  deviations  from  the  Hebrew,  are  due,  not  as 

I  is  generally  assumed,  to  any  ignorance  of  Hebrew  on  the  part 

)  of  the  translators,  nor  yet  to  the  circumstance  that  their  Hebrew 

J  copy  differed  materially  from  the  Masoretic  text,  but  to  the 

fact  that  the  Alexandrian  translators  were  guided  in  their 

work  by  a  traditional  interpretation,  which  they  accepted 

without  question  and  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.     (It  may 

be  remarked  in  passing  that  the  translators  often  show  an  ad- 


PREFACE  ix 

mirable  knowledge  of  subtle  syntactical  points,  and  also  that 
those  passages  which  are  innocuous  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  dogmatic  beliefs  and  religious  sentiments  of  the  age  are,  on 
the  whole,  well  translated.)  Proof  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  the  strange  renderings  referred  to  are  met  with  again 
in  the  Targumim  and  Mediaeval  Jewish  Commentaries,  neither 
of  which  can  have  been  dependent  upon  the  Greek ;  their  agree- 
ment with  the  latter  can,  to  my  mind,  be  satisfactorily  explained 
only  on  the  ground  of  a  traditional  interpretation  as  source 
for  all  three.  The  renderings  in  question  are  much  after  the 
p  -^  manner  of  the  Midrash ;  they  are  arbitrary  and  fanciful,  showing  ' 
no  regard  for  the  grammatical  structure  or  for  the  meaning  ^ 
of  the  words.  An  especially  instructive  example  illustrating 
this  is  12.  5-6.  If  we  had  only  the  Greek  Version  of  these 
verses  to  go  by,  we  could  not  but  conclude,  as  Biblical  scholars 
have  invariably  done,  that  the  Greek  had  a  radically  different 
reading  from  that  of  the  Masoretic  text.  The  fact,  however, 
that  the  rendering  of  these  verses  in  the  Greek  is  substantially 
the  same  as  in  Targum  I  and  II  and  also  in  line  with  Rashi's 
interpretation,  a  thousand  years  later,  and  that  in  the  case  of 
these  latter  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  it  is  the  Masoretic  text 
which  is  so  arbitrarily  interpreted,  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  true 
character  of  the  reading  of  12.  5-6  in  the  Greek.  Another  in- 
teresting instance  of  the  influence  of  the  traditional  interpreta- 
tion is  presented  by  14. 12, 14,  in  which  the  Greek,  and  later  the 
Christian  and  Jewish  exegetes,  did  away  with  Job's  denial  of  , 
a  hereafter — a  proceeding,  it  may  be  remarked,  which  has  found// 
emulation  among  modern  scholars.  In  this  latter  connection, 
19.  25-27  may  be  cited,  although  not  directly  illustrating  the 
point  in  question.  Into  these  verses  the  belief  in  resurrection 
was  carried  by  the  Occidental  Church,  and  here  again  the  forced 
interpretation  has  been  upheld  by  a  number  of  modern  scholars, 
among  others  even  by  some  of  those  who  correctly  interpret 
14.  12,  14.    The  fact  that  as  early  as  the  Greek  translation  a 


X  PREFACE 

^  distinctly  biased  and  arbitrary  interpretation  of  Job  was  es- 
tablished is  of  the  utmost  importance  from  the  point  of  view 
of  sound  text-criticism.     It  dare  not  be  lost  sight  of  for  a  mo- 

Iment.  It  is  of  interest  to  us  also  in  quite  another  respect,  for 
who  knows,  anomalous  as  this  may  seem,  whether  the  book 
would  ever  have  found  a  place  in  Sacred  Literature,  would  ever 
have  come  down  to  us  at  all,  were  it  not  for  this  same  biased  in- 
terpretation which  it  received  at  a  comparatively  early  age. 
J  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  book  must  have  met  with 
violent  disfavor  from  the  writer's  contemporaries,  whose  atti- 
tude, we  may  guess,  was  much  like  that  of  the  friends  in  the 
poem.  It  is  not  improbable,  indeed,  that  we  have  actual  evi- 
dence of  the  hostility  with  which  the  book  was  regarded  in  the 
extreme  text-disorder  which  mars  a  large  part  of  it,  chaps.  16-37. 
Text-disorder  on  a  lesser  scale  is  of  course  nothing  unusual 
in  ancient  and  mediseval  literature,  v\'hether  of  the  Orient  or 
the  Occident.  The  oftener  a  manuscript  was  copied,  the  more 
likely  were  mistakes  and  omissions  to  occur,  and  since  writing 
was  a  most  laborious  operation  in  those  days  and  writing  ma- 
terial very  costly,  a  copyist  who  happened  to  omit  a  line  or 
more  would  not  think  of  making  a  new  copy  on  that  account, 
but  in  the  case  of  a  short  omission  would  add  it  in  the  margin 
of  the  page  on  which  it  occurred,  and  in  the  case  of  a  lengthy 
one,  in  any  available  blank  space  in  the  manuscript.  There 
were  various  methods  employed  to  indicate  where  the  omitted 
passage  belonged,  the  commonest  one,  as  far  as  we  can  judge, 
being  the  repetition  of  the  last  preceding  or  next  following 
word  or  words  of  its  context.  Later  copyists,  however,  working 
mechanically,  after  the  manner  of  copyists,  did  not  catch  this 
point,  and  in  the  new  copy  which  they  were  making  simply 
inserted  the  omitted  passage,  cue-word  and  all,  in  the  body 
of  the  page  at  the  point  where  it  happene<i  to  be  found,  instead 
of  at  the  point,  whether  of  the  same  or  some  other  page,  where 
it  properly  belonged.     Now  in  the  Book  of  Job,  as  well  as  in 


PREFACE       •  xi 

the  other  Biblical  books/  quite  a  number  of  passages  became         i 
misplaced  in  this  way,  but  they  are  by  no  means  sufficient  to  »^  i^ 
account  for  the  text-disorder  which  runs  pretty  well  through         i 
chaps.  16-37.     It  seems  to  me  more  than  probable,  as  I  have 
already  suggested,  that  this  text-disorder  is  in  large  measure  i^"  ^  " 
the  result  of  the  hostility  with  which  the  book  met  in  the  writer's 
own  day.    Without  a  doubt  the  book  was  considered  sacrile-  / 
gious,  and  it  is  jiot  inconceivable,  in  fact  it  is  easily  possible, ).      | 
that  the  scroll  may  have  been  torn  up  to  be  publicly  burned,  )/ 
just  as  two  hundred  years  previously  tlie  prophecies  of Teremiah  1'      ] 
were  torn  up  by  Jeho jakim  bef  oreTTemg  clorisigned  to  tlieflames.^  \      : 
^Shd  to  carry  the  parallel  to  the  prophet  himself,  even  as  Jere-  i      ■ 
miah  was  spirited  away  by  Shafan  and  so  saved  from  the  execu-         ] 
tion  of  the  death-sentence,^  may  not  possibly  the  Book  of  Job,  ^  *^j 
by  some  means,  have  been  saved  from  utter  destruction  by  - 

some  devoted  disciple,  who,  though  unable  to  restore  the  original 
order,  faithfully  preserved  every  fragment  of  the  mutilated   -'^' 
copy.     But  about  all  this  we  can  have  no  positive  knowledge 
whatever.    The  only  point  of  which  we  may  feel  certain  is  that 
the  book  was  contrary  to  the  orthodox  spirit  of  the  times  —  a         \ 
fact  which  makes  its  acceptance  in  the  Old  Testament  Canon         ; 
a  most  perplexing  problem.     If  we  had  but  some  record  of         1 
the  circumstances  which  brought  about  the  inclusion  of  the  ! 

book  in  Sacred  Literature,  we  would  be  afforded  an  insight  into  ; 

the  crosscurrents  of  thought  and  the  spiritual  life  of  those         ' 
times  which  is  at  present  denied  us. 

The  great  diversity  of  views  on  the  part  of  modern  scholars     ^„,^ 
regarding  the  meaning  of  Job  is  attributable  in  large  measure    v^** 
to  the  text  confusion  of  chaps.  16-37  and  to  the  distorted 
reading  of  38.  2  and  40.  8  in  the  Hebrew.    As  to  the  latter,  I    '  w^ 
believe  my  discovery  in  the  Greek  version  of  what  is  indubitably 

i 

^  I  have  pointed  out  a  number  of  such  instances  in  prophetic  literature  '{ 

in  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  260f .  I 

2  See  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  pp.  25-41.  f. 


xii  PREFACE 

the  original  text  of  these  two  lines  throws  an  altogether  new 
light  on  God's  revelation  amidst  the  storm  and  illuminates 
the  drama  as  a  whole.  Common  sense  and  poetic  justice  have 
been  confounded  by  the  accepted  reading  of  38.  2  and  40.  8. 
Taking  the  Greek  reading  of  these  verses,  however,  for  the 
correct  one,  I  believe  that  we  get  a  meaning  of  Job  that  is  at 
once  logical,  consistent  and  satisfying.  As  to  the  text  con- 
fusion of  chaps.  16-37  it  must  be  granted  that  this  has  been  a 
large  factor  in  obscuring  the  meaning  of  the  poem  and  leading 
the  student  astray,  but  it  is  important  to  recognize  that  theo- 
logical bias  and  sundry  preconceived  conclusions  have  also 
played  no  small  part  in  beclouding  the  thought  which  the  author 
meant  to  convey.  An  instance  of  theological  bias  has  already 
been  referred  to;  various  other  instances  might  be  adduced. 
It  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  that  even  to-day  the  belief  in 
material  retribution  is  occasionally  found  lingering  in  the  minds 
of  modern  interpreters.  An  excellent  illustration  of  how  an 
interpretation  may  be  determined  by  a  preconceived  theory 
is  furnished  by  the  prevalent  misinterpretation  of  chap.  28. 
This  chapter,  which  is  of  central  importance  for  the  proper 
interpretation  of  Job,  has  as  a  rule  been  taken,  quite  in  the 
way  of  a  foregone  conclusion,  to  express  the  Logos-idea,  and  in 
consequence  has  been  discarded  by  the  majority  of  modern 
scholars  as  an  interpolation. 

The  reconstruction  of  chaps.  16-37,  which  I  present  in  this 
volume,  is  based  on  a  careful  study,  covering  many  years,  of 
both  the  Hebrew  text  and  the  Ancient  Versions,  chief  among 
the  latter  being  the  Greek  with  its  various  daughter  transla- 
tions, the  Syro-Hexaplar,  the  Latin  translation  by  St.  Jerome, 
the  fragments  of  the  Vetus  Latina,  the  Coptic-Bohairic,  and 
especially  the  Coptic-Sahidic  translation.  I  have,  through  the 
years,  as  it  suggested  itself  to  me,  presented  this  reconstruc- 
tion to  the  students  in  my  Job  class  at  the  Hebrew  Union  Col- 
lege.    By  the  fall  of  1915  I  felt  that  I  had  it  fairly  complete, 


PREFACE  xiii 

with  the  exception  of  the  last  speech  of  Bildad.      As  to  this  J 

speech,  I  had  been  long  convinced  that  it  must  originally  have  ■ 

included  the  greater  part  of  chaps.  34-36;  the  difference  in  j 

style  and  tenor  between  chaps.  34-36  and  chaps.  32  and  33  —  j 

added  to  my  discovery  of  a  large  part  of  Job's  concluding  speech  ■ 
in  chaps.  36  and  37  —  pointed  to  such  a  conclusion.     But  I 

hardly  dared  entertain  the  hope  that  I  should  ever  be  able  to  \ 

dig  out  from  the  Elihu  speech  the  constituent  parts  of  the  Bildad  ;  | 

speech  in  any  sort  of  continuity,  until  in  the  summer  of  1919,  \ 

while  making  a  last  attempt,  I  happily  came  upon  the  beginning  \ 

of  the  speech,  and  after  that  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  dis-  i 
entangle  the  remaining  parts.  To  what  extent  I  have  been  ||  | 
successful  in  restoring  sequence  and  order  in  chaps.  16-37 —    j    ? 

\\  and  this,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  must  be  the  final  test  —  I  ; 

must  leave  it  to  the  critical  reader  to  judge  for  himself.     Biblical  j 

scholars  will,  I  trust,  be  materially  aided  in  forming  a  judgment  ] 
by  the  inclusion  in  the  present  volume  of  the  Hebrew  text  of 

Job,  revised  and  rearranged  according  to  my  findings.     The  i\ 
emendations  in  this  text  will  be  readily  distinguished  by  reason '       -. 
of  their  being  vocalized.                                                                 -^  i 
I  venture  to  hope  that  the  interpretation  which  follows  "'    \ 

naturally  and  logically,  as  it  seems  to  me,  from  the  rearranged  ; 
text  may  be  found  to  bring  out  and  sustain  a  deeper  and  a 

more  satisfying  meaning  of  the  poem  than  do  the  various  in-  '. 

terpretations  of  Job  that  have  been  hitherto  presented  —  more  \ 

satisfying,  I  should  say,  both  to  the  reason  and  the  literary  \ 
sense. 

As  to  my  translations,  which  in  not  a  few  places  are  radically  ] 

different  not  only  from  those  of  the  English  Bible  but  also  from  . 
those  prevailing  in  modern  Commentaries,  Biblical  scholars, 

I  believe,  will  find  them  in  each  case  to  be  the  result  of  a  minute  j 
study  of  the  text,  in  particular  of  the  subtle  syntactical  points 

often  involved.    My  aim  throughout  has  been  to  accomplish  I 

not  only  an  accurate,  but  an  idiomatic  rendering,  that  is  to  say,  ^ 


xiv  PREFACE 

wherever  possible  I  have  translated  Hebrew  idiomatic  expres- 
sions by  their  English  equivalents.  A  literal  translation  of 
idiomatic  expressions  is  by  no  means  a  true  translation.  My 
translations,  as  they  appear  in  the  following  pages,  have  for 
many  years  been  given  in  substantially  the  same  form  in  my 
classroom. 

I  have  purposely  refrained  from  any  attempt  to  consider  the 
meter  of  Job,  for  the  reason  that  in  my  opinion  all  theories 
about  the  Hebrew  meter  are  bound  to  be  conjectural  as  long, 
for  one  thing,  as  we  are  in  the  dark  about  the  word-  and  sen- 
tence-accent of  Hebrew  while  it  was  a  spoken  language,  to 
say  nothing  of  other  important  points  of  Hebrew  prosody 
which  would  have  a  distinct  bearing  on  the  Hebrew  meter. 

I  wish  here  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  the  young 
men  who  from  year  to  year  have  formed  my  classes  at  the  He- 
brew Union  College.  I  have  found  a  constant  stimulus  in 
their  open  minds,  their  vigorous  enthusiasm,  and,  I  must  not 
omit,  their  ready  wit.  To  the  Class  of  1921  especially  I  wish 
to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  earnest  appreciation  and  the 
cheering  loyalty  with  which  they  have  followed  the  progress 
of  this  w^ork.  Were  it  possible,  I  should  wish  also  to  acknowl- 
edge what  I  owe  to  my  wife  through  the  years  these  Job-studies 
have  been  under  way.  Her  sympathy  has  been  so  generous, 
however,  her  help  so  manifold,  that  it  were  vain  to  try  to 
estimate  the  measure  of  my  debt. 

M.  B. 

September,  1920. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Abbreviations  and  Signatures ^" 

PART   1 
INTRODUCTION^ 

CHAPTER  I 

The  Relation  of  the  Prologue  to  the  Dialogues  .        .        3 

•     1.   The  View  that  the  Prologue  is  a  Foreign  Body  in  the  Book  is 

Unsound ^ 

2.  No  Proof  that  the  Job  Narrative  was  Known  in  the  Days  of 

Ezekiel '^ 

3.  The  Babylonian  Assyrian  Poem  :   "I  Will  Praise  the  Lord  of     '^ 

Wisdom,"  not  a  Source  of  the  Job  Story      .         .  .       10    ' 

4.  No. Relation  between  the  Book  of  Job  and  the  Egyptian  Poem, 

*'The  Discourse  between  a  Man  Weary  of  Life  and  his  Own 

Soul" 11    ^ 

5.  The  Typical  Form  of  the  Job  Narrative  ....  12 

6.  The  Narrative  a  Product  of  Finished  Art        ....  16 

7.  The  Prologue  and  Dialogues  Tally  in  the  Details  about  Job  24 

8.  Unity  of  Character  and  Action 26 

9.  The  Figure  of  the  Satan 31 

10.  Metaphorical  Language 34 

11.  The  Names  of  God  in  Job 35 

CHAPTER  II  . 

The  Meaning  of  Job •        •   C3^ 

The  Happy  Ending,  42.10,  12-17,  a  Later  Addition       ...      67 

XV 


] 

xvi                                   CONTENTS  I 

CHAPTER  III  \ 

^\                                                                                                                                                                                     PAGE  *. 

(J/  The  Date  of  the  Book  of  Job 70  ; 

2.  Relation  of  Job  to  Other  Biblical  Books  i 

^^    a.   Proverbs 80  i 

^     b.  Deutero-Isaiah 83  ^ 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Elihu  Interpolation 85  I 

j 

PART  II  I 

THE   BOOK   OF  JOB:    TRANSLATION.        .      89  ] 


PART   III  I 

NOTES  AND   SYNOPSES       .       .       .  155    ' 

i 

PART  IV  I 

THE  BOOK  OF  JOB:  HEBREW  TEXT 

nVK  "IBD 295     i 

KlTb«  nSDlJ 337    I 

mnnK  msDis 341    ; 

APPENDIX  ! 

The  Elihu  Interpolation:  Translation  and  Notes         .        .  347    ; 

The  Later  Additions  to  the  Speech  of  God  :  Translation  and  ' 

Notes 353    : 

Index  of  Subjects 359    ■ 

Index  and  Glossary  of  Hebrew  Words,  Idioms,  and  Forms    .  364    j 


ABBREVIATIONS  AND  SIGNATURES 

I.   TEXT   AND   VERSIONS 

Aquila 

Authorized  Version 

Origenis  Hexaplorum  quae  swpersuni,  Vol.  II,  Oxonii,  1875 

The  Old  Testament  in  Greek  According  to  the  Septuagint, 

ed.  Swete,  Vol.  II,  2nd  ed.,  Cambridge,  1896 
A  Codex  Alexandrinus 

B  Codex  Vaticanus 

C  Codex  Ephraemi  Syri  rescriptus  Parisiensis 

S  Codex  Sinaiticus 

S\  S^,  etc.,  represent  the  various  stages  in  the  correction 

of  the  cod. 
P  Codex  Vaticanus  346  =  Prs.  248 

K  Codex  Colbertinus,  Paris  1952 

Aid.  Aldine  Edition,  1518 

Compl.  Complutensis  Polyglott,  1514-17 

Prs.  Cursive  Codices  as  collated  in  R.  Holmes  and  J.  Parsons, 

Vetus  Testamentum  Graecum,  Vol.  Ill,  Oxonii,  1828 
Hie.  St.  Jerome's  Latin  Hexaplaric  Version  in  3  MSS,  (1)  Bod- 

leianus   2426,  (2)  Turonensis    18:    ed.  P.  de   Lagarde 

in  Mitteilungen  II,  pp.   193-237.     Goettingen,  1887; 

(3)  Sangallensis  11  :  ed.  C.  P.  Caspari,  Das  Buch  Hioh 

in  Hieronymus'  tlhersetzung,  Christiania,  1893 
Sah.  Coptic-Sahidic   pre-Origenic   Version    in   Sacrorum    Bib- 

liorum  Fragmenta  Copto-Sahidica,  ed.  A.  Ciasca,  Vol.  II, 

pp.  1-68,  Rome,  1889 
Boh.  Coptic-Bohairic  Hexaplaric  Version  :    The  Ancient  Coptic 

Version  of  Job,  ed.  and  transl.  by  H.  Tattam,  London, 

1846 

xvii 


xvm 


ABBREVIATIONS  AND  SIGNATURES 


S»» 


Vet.  Lat. 
H,  Heb. 
MS(S)  Ken. 
or  de  Rossi 


RV 

Sym. 

SjT. 

Syr.3 

Targ. 

Theod. 
Vulg. 


Syro-Hexaplar  Version:  Codex  Syro-Hexaplaris,  ed. 
Middeldorpf,  Berlin,  1835;  Codex  Syro-Hexaplaris 
Amhrosianus,  publ.  A.  M.  Ceriani,  Milan,  1874 

Versio  Vetus  Latina 

Hebrew,  Masoretic  text 

Hebrew  Manuscripts  as  collated  by  B.  Kennicott,  Vetus 
Testamentum  Hebraicum,  Vol.  II,  Oxonii,  1780;  or 
J.  de  Rossi,  Variae  Lectiones  Veteris  Testamenti,  Vol. 
Ill,  Parma,  1786 

Revised  Version 

Symmachus 

Syriac  Version  (Peshitta),  ed.  Lee,  London,  1826 

Translatio  Syra  Pescitto  Vet.  Test,  ex  Cod.  Ambrosiano, 
publ.  A.  M.  Ceriani,  Milan,  1876 

Targum:  Hagiographa  Chaldaice,  ed.  P.  de  Lagarde, 
Leipzig,  1873 

Theodotion 

Vulgata 


AUTHORS'   NAMES;    BOOKS;    PERIODICALS ^ 

AJTh  American  Journal  of  Theology 

ARW  Archiv  fiir  Religionswissenschaft 

Beer-K  lob  in  R.  Kittel,  Biblia  Hebraica 

Bickell  Kritische  Bearbeitung  des  Jobdialogs  in  Wiener  Zeitschrift 

fur   die    Kunde   der   Morgenlands,    1892,    pp.    137ff., 

241ff.,  327ff. ;  1893,  pp.  Iff.,  153ff. 
Carey  The  Book  of  Job,  1858 

Dillmann  Textcritisches   zum   Buche   Ijob   in   Sitzungsberichte  der 

Akademie   der   Wissenschaften   zu   Berlin,    1890,    pp. 

1345ff. 
Enc.  Bibl.  Encyclopaedia  Biblica,  ed.  T.  K.  Cheyne  and  J.  S.  Black, 

1899-1903 
Eur.  Or.  Euripides  Orestes 


See  also  the  literature  given  on  pp.  5,  8,  26. 


ABBREVIATIONS  AND  SIGNATURES 


XIX 


Ges.-Buhl  Gesenius'  Hebrdisches  und  Aramaisches  Handworterbuch 

bearbeitet  von  F.  Buhl,  15th  ed. 

Ges.-Kautzsch  Gesenius'   Hebrdische   Grammatik,  umgearbeitet  von   E. 

Kautzsch,  28th  ed. 

Gratz  Emendationes  in  plerosque  Veteris  Testamenti  libros,  1892 

Grimme  Metrische  und  Kritische  Emendationen  zum  Buche  Hiob, 

in  Theologische  Quartalschrift,  1898,  pp.  295ff.,  421ff. ; 

1899,  pp.  112ff.,  259ff. 

Hitzig  Das  Buch  Hiob,  1874 

Hoffmann  Hiob,  1891 

II.  IHad 

JAOS  Journal  of  American  Oriental  Society 

JBL  Journal  of  Bibhcal  Literature 

JdTh  Jahrbiicher  fiir  deutsche  Theologie 

JQ  Jewish  Quarterly  Review 

Kamphausen  Hiob  in  Bunsen's  Bibelwerk,  I,  3,  1865 

KB  Keilschriftliche  Bibliothek,  1889-1901 

KSGW  Konighche  Sachsische  Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften 

Od.  Odyssey 

Olshausen  Hiob,  1852 

Plant.  Capt.  Plautus  Captivi 

Protest.  RE  Real-Encyclopadie    fiir    Protestantische    Theologie    und 

Kirche,  3rd  ed.,  ed.  A.  Hauck 

SBOT  Sacred  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  ed.  P.  Haupt 

Siegfried  The  Book  of  Job  in  SBOT,  1893 

Soph.  Ant.  Sophocles,  Antigone 

Trach.  Trachiniae 

ThStK  Theologische  Studien  und  Kritiken 

Voigt  Einige  Stellen  des  Buches  Hiob,  1895 

Wetzstein  See  Frz.  Delitzsch,  Das  Buch  Job 

Wright  The  Book  of  Job,  1883 

ZATW  Zeitschrift  der  Alttestamentlichen  Wissenschaft 

ZDMG  Zeitschrift  der  deutschen  morgenlandischen  Gesellschaft 


PART  I 
INTRODUCTION 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 


CHAFPER  I 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PROLOGUE  TO  THE  DIALOGUES 

frHE  Book  of  Job  occupies  a  unique  position  in  the  literature 
of  the  world.  Of  the  masterpieces  which  time  has  handed 
down,  of  the  BibHcal  books  in  especial,  it  is  the  one  which  in 
every  age  is  felt  to  be  the  most  modern.  The  author,  we  are 
bound  to  believe,  was  a  man  who  in  his  own  life  had  sounded 
the  depths  of  human  suffering,  and  who  had  been  awakened 
by  his  experience  to  a  larger  consideration  of  the  prolMns  of  the 
universe.  Into  the  mouth  and  mind  of  Job,  we  'musY'conclude, 
he  put  the  doubts  and  obstinate  questionings  which  had  beset 
his  own  soul,  the  sorrow,  the  anger,  the  irony,  the  revolt,  which 
in  his  dark  hours  had  filled  his  heart,  the  sense  of  the  maj- 
esty of  God,  of  the  beauty  of  Nature,  and  of  the  dignity  of 
man,  which  ■ii.iiliui  riiiil-rvrr  rnurfiT"^^  ,Yiithir'  ^"^  had  served 
to  save  him  from  despair,  and  finally,  the  understanding  and 
reconcilement  to  which  through  this  saving  sense  he  had  been 
led,  with  the  crowning  consciousness  of  security  and  fellowship 
with  GodJ  The  author's  own,  we  doubt  not,  was  the  refusal 
of  Job  to  gloss  over  the  weaknesses  and  discrepancies  of  the  ac- 
cepted system,  his  own  the  scorn  of  compromise,  the  insistence 
on  the  naked  truth,  the  yearning  for  the  personal  approval  of 
his  God. 
"~  3 


^  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

fHuman,  poetic,  dramatic,  philosophic,  and  deeply  spiritual, 
tne  Book  of  Job  makes  an  appeal  to  all  classes  and  conditions 
of  men.  Written  fully  four  hundred  years  B.C.,  it  still,  after 
all  the  centuries,  challenges  the  intellect  and  stirs  the  heart  as 
if  it  had  been  written  but  yesterday  J  The  interest  which  the 
book  commands  for  us  as  a  spirituaT^ama  is  enhanced  by  the 
effectiveness  of  the  plan  and  structure  and  by  the  imaginative 
fervor  and  poetic  beauty  of  the  lines.  The  student,  who  has 
learned  that  the  spiritual  content  of  every  work  of  art  is  so 
closely  dependent  on  its  artistic  expression  that  it  is  well-nigh 
impossible  to  dissociate  the  two  for  separate  study,  will  find 
this  particularly  true  of  the  Book  of  Job.  A  study  of  the  re- 
I'gious  significance  of  the  book,  if  it  is  to  be  intelligent  and 

oroughgoing,  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  a  careful  literary 
analysis,  which  in  turn  must  be  based  on  a  rigid  examination 
of  the  text  and  a  tedious  collation  of  versions. 

Viewed  from  its  structural  side,  the  Book  of  Job  consists 
of  two  distinct  parts,  the  Narrative  and  the  Dialogues.     The 
Narrative  comprises  the  two  opening  chapters,  usually  spoken 
of  as  the  Prologue,  and  the  closing  chapter,  42.  7-17,  com- 
monly known  as  the  Epilogue,  while  the  Dialogues  form  the 
main  body  of  the  book.     The  Dialogues  consist  of  the  speeches 
or  the  dramatic  discourse  between  Job  and  his  three  friends 
and  the  revelation  of  God  amidst  the  storm  with  the  discourse 
attending  it^    The  speech  of  Elihu  is  not  an  original  part  of  the 
work,  but  the  addition  of  an  interpolator.^ 
/     The  question  as  to  the  relation  of  the  Narrative  to  the  Dia- 
/  logues  is  of  basic  importance  for  the  interpretation  of  the  Book^ 
of  Jobj    The  question  hinges  on  whether  the  Narrative  is  an*/ 
integral,  harmonious  part  of  the  book,  or  whether  it  is  an  al- 

1  The  Elihu  interpolation  was  originally  only  one  speech,  consisting  of 
chapters  32-33  and  some  verses  of  chapters  34-37.  The  remainder  of 
chapters  34-37  belonged  partly  to  the  last  speech  of  Bildad,  partly  to 
the  concluding  speech  of  Job. 


THE  PROLOGUE  5 

together  foreign  body,  a  product  of  folk  literature,  which  existed 
centuries  before  the  Dialogues  were  composed,  and  which  was 
combined  with  these  by  their  author  in  a  very  crude  and 
mechanical  way. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  case  presented  by  the  Epilogue    ; 
is,  as  will  be  shown  later,  essentially  different  from  that  met  / 
with  in  the  Prologue,  it  will  be  more  to  the  purpose  to  consider 
the  two  separately  and  to  take  up  the  relation  of  the  Epilogue 
to  the  Dialogues  only  after  an  analysis  of  the  latter  has  been 
completed. 

1.    The  View  that  the  Prologue  Is  a  Foreign  Body 
in  the  Book  Is  Unsound 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  view  that  the  Prologue,  far 
from  being  a  foreign  body  in  the  Book  of  Job,  is  a  really  inte-  - 
gral  part  of  the  author's  design,  and  that  it  constitutes  with 
the  Dialogues  a  uniform  piece  of  work,  has  comparatively  few 
adherents.^  The  view  that  at  present  prevails  among  Biblical 
scholars  is  that  there  is  such  a  patent  lack  of  unity,  such 
a  marked  difference  both  in  thought  and  jForm  between  the 
Prologue  and  the  Dialogues,  that  the  two  cannot  possibly  be 
the  work  of  one  and  the  same  author. 

Yet  it  requu-es  but  a  moment's  reflection  to  see  how  unlikely 

^Cf.  H.  Ewald,  Die    Poetischen  Biicher   des  Alten  Bundes,  III.   "Das 
Buch  Job"  (1836)  pp.  28ff. ;   A.  Merx,  Das  Gedicht  von  Hiob  (1871)  pp 
XXXIVff. ;  O.  Zockler,  Das  Buch  Job  (1872)  pp.  36ff. ;  Franz  Delitzsch 
Das  Buch  Job  (1876)  p.  3f. ;  E.  Reuss,  Hiob  (1888),  p.  llf. ;  A.  Dillmann,  Hiob, 
4th.  ed.  (1891),  p.  XXIVf. ;  A.  B.  Davidson,  The  Book  of  Job,  pp.  XXXff., 
and  Encycl.  Brit.  11th.  ed.  Art.  Job]  J.  F.  Genung,  The  Epic  of  the  Inner 
Life  (1891)  pp.  17ff. ;  J.  Meinhold,  Das  Problem  des  Buches  Hiob  in  Jahrbb 
f .  deutsche  Theologie,  1892,  pp.  63ff . ;  A.  Klostermann,  Protest.  RE.  3d.  ed. 
Art.  Hiob,  pp.  114£f. ;    K.  Kautzsch,  Das  Sogenannte  Volksbuch  von  Hiob 
und  der  Ursprung  von  Hiob,  Cap.  I-II.  XLII,  1-17  (1900) ;   J.  Hontheim- 
Das  Buch  Job    (1904),    p.  16f . ;    Steuernagel,  "Das  Buch  Hiob"  in  Die 
Heilige  Schrift  des  Alt.  Test.  ed.  E.  Kautzsch,  3d.  ed.,  p.  296.     All  these 
scholars  consider  also  the  Epilogue,  as  we  have  it,  an  integral  part  of  the 
writer's  work. 


6  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB 

it  is  that  a  masterpoet,  like  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
should  combine  a  current  story  with  the  creation  of  his  own 
genius,  without  any  attempt  to  harmonize  the  two.  By  such 
a  procedure  he  would  spoil  the  effect  of  his  work  and  defeat 
his  own  literary  ends. 

The  scholars  who  hold,  nevertheless,  that  this  was  exactly 
the  procedure  followed  by  the  author  of  Job  overlook  the  fact 
that  as  regards  the  manner  of  its  composition  the  Book  of  Job 
presents  a  different  case  from  that  presented  by  the  Hexateuch 
and  the  Historical  books  of  the  Bible,  or  even  by  the  speech 
of  Elihu  and  other  additions  to  the  original  Book  of  Job.  Very 
different  factors  entered  into  the  two  cases. 

The  stories  of  the  Hexateuch  and  to  some  extent  those  of  the 
Historical  books  belonged  to  the  common  stock  of  the  nation's 
literary  wealth,  which  for  centuries  had  been  handed  down, 
principally  by  oral  tradition,  from  generation  to  generation. 
Like  all  stories  and  products  of  that  kind,  they  were  subject  to 
growth  and  development,  to  more  or  less  thoroughgoing  changes 
and  metamorphoses.  Different  versions  arose  spontaneously, 
at  various  times  and  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  each 
generation  contributed  its  share  to  their  constant  flux  and  grad- 
ual growth.  These  stories  were  bound  in  time  to  grow  into 
composite  products  reflecting  often  the  conflicting  views  of 
successive  ages  and  containing  divergent  elements  more  or  less 
crudely  united.  Wlien  later  these  stories  were  collected  or  com- 
piled, little  critical  judgment  was  displayed  by  the  compilers 
or  collectors.  Quite  aside  from  their  attitude  of  reverence  to- 
ward the  cherished  heritage  of  the  past,  their  mere  function  as 
compilers  precluded  that  they  should  subject  their  material  to 
any  really  critical  scrutiny. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  an  entirely  different  case  is  pre- 
sented by  the(  author  of  the  Book  of  Job,  who,  inspired  to  his 
great  work  by  the  problem  of  suffering,  chose  for  the  hero  of  his 
poem  the  Job  of  the  legend  whose  piety  had  been  proverbial 


THE  PROLOGUE  7 

'  l/  for  centuries.  In  his  case  we  could  not  but  be  at  a  loss  to  ex- 
plain what-should  have  induced  him  to  attach  to  his  poem, 
in  the  thoughtless,  mechanical  manner  of  a  compiler,  a  story 
which  in  spirit  and  character  was  diametrically  opposed  (as  is 
thought)  to  his  presentation  of  the  subject.  It  cannot  be  argued 
that  he  lacked  the  critical  insight  to  see  that  he  would  thus  be 
robbing  his  work  of  its  most  essential  requirement,  that  of  unity 
of  character  and  action.  Every  line  of  his  poem  shows  that  he 
possessed  rare  analytic  acumen  and  that  he  probed  and  pene- 
trated other  minds,  even  as  he  searched  and  laid  bare  the  in- 
most recesses  of  his  own]  Nor  can  the  theory  be  upheld  that 
it  was  out  of  regard  for  an  old  and  favorite  story  that  the  author 
refrained  from  subjecting  it  to  any  revision  or  alteration,  how- 
ever desirable ;  for  he  shows  his  independence  of  mind  through- 
out. .  .Untrammeled  by  time-honored  notions  and  the  traditions 
of  the  past,  he  deals  with  his  subject  with  perfect  freedom  of 
spirit,'  Least  of  all  can  it  be  argued  that  he  was  so  lacking  in 
resourcefulness  that  he  did  not  feel  equal  to  the  task  of  remodel- 
ing the  ancient  narrative  to  make  it  fit  in  with  his  plan  and 
poetic  purpose.  In  genius  and  skill  he  stands  fair  comparison 
with  the  great  masters  of  the  world  literature,  who  in  using  a 
well-known  legend  as  material  for  their  creative  works  invari- 
ably transformed  it  and  made  it  harmonize  in  every  essential 
respect  with  their  own  presentation  of  the  subject.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Job  set  about  his  work  in 
precisely  the  same  way.  The  differences  commonly  pointed 
out  between  the  Prologue  and  the  Dialogues  have  in  reality 
no  existence  except  in  the  minds  of  the  critics. 

2.     No  Proof  that  the  Joh-Narratiw  was  Generally 
Known  in  the  Days  of  Ezekiel 

Before  adducing  proof  for  the  statement  just  made,  the  ques- 
tion must  be  considered  whether  the  view  that  the  Job-narra- 


<y 


8  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

tive  existed  as  folk-tale  centuries  before  the  Dialogues  were 
composed,  is  supported  by  evidence  outside  of  the  Book  of  Job. 
Ezek.  14.  14-20  has  been  pointed  to  as  direct  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  such  a  tale  in  the  days  of  Ezekiel.^ 

This  deduction  from  Ezek.  14.  14-20  may  serve  as  a  typical 
illustration  of  the  arguments  advanced  in  support  of  the  theory 
of  a  folk-tale  of  Job.  The  passage  contains  nothing  beyond  the 
statement,  repeated  three  times  without  material  modification  : 
"  Though  these  three  men,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  were  in  her 
midst,  they  should  save  neither  sons  nor  daughters;  they 
should  save  themselves  alone  by  their  righteousness."  All  that 
follows  from  this  bare  reference  is  that  alongside  of  Noah  and 
Daniel,  Job  had  enjoyed  the  renown  of  exemplary  piety.  About 
any  other  details  of  the  story  told  of  him,  particularly  of  how  he 
proved  his  piety,  the  passage  in  Ezekiel  permits  no  inference 
whatever ;  least  of  all  does  it  permit  the  inference  that  he  proved 
his  piety  by  steadfastness  and  pious  submission  under  great 
suffering.  And  the  likelihood  must  be  granted  that  the  Job 
of  the  story  current  at  the  time  of  Ezekiel  had  little,  if  anything, 
in  common  with  the  suffering  hero  of  the  Book  of  Job,  since  it 
is  absolutely  certain  that  the  Daniel  of  the  hoary  past,  of  whom 

1  The  latter  conclusion,  strange  to  say,  is  expressed  by  Budde,  Das 
Buck  Hiob,  2d.  ed.  (1913)  p.  Xllf. ;  after  stating  that  "An  Ez.  14.  14-20, 
haben  wir  ein  ausdriickliches  Zeugniss"  that  the  writer  of  Job  got  the  ma- 
terial for  his  work  from  a  current  folk-story,  he  continues :  "Diese  volks- 
tiimliche  Erzahlung  von  Hiob,  so  bekannt,  dass  der  Prophet  sie  mit 
blossem  Namen  anziehen  darf,  muss  unser  Dichter  benutzt  haben.  .  .  . 
Alles  WesentUche  von  C.  1.  1-2.  10  (ausser  dem  letzten  Worte)  und  von 
42.  7-17  (ausser  v.  10a)  muss  zum  Bestande  des  Volksbuchs  von  Hiob 
gehort  haben.  .  .  und  wurde  von  iiim  im  wesentlichen  so  benutzt,  dass  er 
seine  Teile  lediglich  von  einander  loste,  um  sein  eigenes  Werk  zwischen 
Anfang  und  Ende  einzuschieben  und  mit  dem  UberUeferten  zu  verklamm- 
ern."  See  also  p.  XlXf.  A  similar  view  is  expressed  by  Duhm,  Das 
Buck  Hiob,  p.  VIII :  "Aus  der  Anspielung  Hezekiels  (Hes.  14.  14ff.)  auf 
Hiob  Cap.  42.  7ff.  diirfen  wir  schliessen,  dass  das  Buch  (i.e.  das  Volksbuch), 
von  dem  uns  noch  der  Eingang  Cap.  1  u.  2  und  Cap.  42.  7-17  erhalten  sind, 
zur  Zeit  dieses  Propheten  schon  allbekannt  ward." 


THE  PROLOGUE  9 

the  people  told  in  the  days  of  Ezekiel,  cannot  even  remotely 
have  resembled  the  Daniel  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  who,  presum- 
ably, lived  and  attained  great  honors  at  the  court  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar and  his  successors,  and  who  proved  his  piety  by  refusing 
to  defile  himself  by  eating  forbidden  food  or  by  paying  homage 
to  any  one  save  God.  In  this  figure  it  is  not  difficult  to 
recognize  the  Maccabaean  ideal  of  piety  as  portrayed  through- 
out the  literature  of  that  age. 

It  is  clear  that  the  writer  of  Daniel  can  have  retained  nothing 
of  the  old  legend  beyond  the  name  of  the  hero  and  his  reputa- 
tion for  exemplary  piety ;  with  this  minor  exception  he  created 
a  new  story.  There  is  sufficient  ground  for  the  conclusion  that 
the  writer  of  the  Job-story  proceeded  in  a  similar  way.  The 
obvious  inference  from  EzekieFs  declaration,  "Verily,  neither 
son  nor  daughter  shall  they  save,  they  by  their  righteousness 
shall  save  only  themselves,"  is  that  in  Ezekiel's  days  Job  and 
Daniel  were  reputed,  like  Noah,  to  have  been  saved  amidst 
general  calamity  because  of  their  righteousness.  Further,  the 
present  Job-story,  in  which  Job  suffers  great  affliction  unjustly, 
would  have  completely  upset 'Ezekiel's  theory  of  strict  individual 
retribution,  since  it  directly  contradicts  his  view  that  prosperity 
is  the  result  of  pious  living  and  adversity  the  result  of  sin. 
Ezekiel  could  not  possibly  have  referred  to  Job  in  illustration 
of  his  principle  of  retributive  justice,  if  the  story  current  about 
Job  in  his  age  had  coincided  in  essential  particulars  with  that  of 
the  Book  of  Job.  Nor  is  it  likely  that  he  would  have  considered 
the  Job  of  the  Job-story  a  paragon  of  piety.  Ezekiel,  who  most 
consistently  developed  the  view  that  there  can  be  no  punish- 
ment without  sin  and  who  made  this  the  basis  of  his  preach- 
ing, could  not  but  have  viewed  Job's  calamity  in  exactly  the 
same  light  as  the  friends  did.  For  him,  as  for  them,  the 
fact  that  Job  was  not  only  plunged  suddenly  from  perfect 
prosperity  into  abject  misery,  but  was  moreover  stricken  with 
leprosy,  would  have  been  indisputable  proof  that  he  was  "the 


10  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

smitten  and  aflOiicted  by  God," —,"  smitten,"  that  is,  for  a 
grave  sin.^ 

3.     The  Babylonian  Assyrian  Poem:  "/  Will  Praise 
the  Lord  of  Wisdom/'  not  a  Source  of  the  Job  Story 

Nor  does  the  Babylonian  poem,  /  Will  Praise  the  Lord  of 
Wisdom,  which  tells  about  the  suffering  of  King  Shubshi-meshri- 
Bel,  furnish  any  proof  that  the  Job-narrative  existed  as  folk- 
tale centuries  before  the  Book  of  Job  was  written.  This  poem, 
though  it  has  in  common  with  the  Job-story  the  feature  that 
its  erstwhile  prosperous  and  god-fearmg  king  is  suddenly 
stricken  with  a  terrible  disease,  but  is  ultimately  restored  to 
perfect  health,  lacks  all  those  essential  points  that  give  the  Job- 
story  its  distinct  character  and  tendency  —  the  plot  in  Heaven, 
the  dramatic  report  of  Job's  sudden  material  ruin  and  the  loss 
of  his  children,  followed  by  Job's  expression  of  pious  surrender 
to  God,  Job's  temptation  by  his  wife,  and  finally  the  silent 
visit  of  the  friends  and  their  ensuing  condemnation  by 
God. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Job-story  all  the  features  are  ab- 
sent that  give  the  Babylonian  poem  its  particular  coloring  — 
the  royal  rank  of  the  sufferer,  Ur-Bau's  appearing  to  Tabi-utul- 
Bel  in  a  dream  and  instructing  him  to  bring  healing  to  Shubshi- 
meshri-Bel,  the  role  which  magical  intercession  plays  in  the 
healing  and,  bound  up  therewith,  the  elaborate  description 
of  Shubshi-meshri-Bel's  restoration  to  health.  As  far  as  the 
form  is  concerned,  the  two  products  have  nothing  whatever  in 
common  with  each  other.  The  Babylonian  poem  has  no  narra- 
tion; unlike  the  Job-story,  which  circumstantially  relates  the 
misfortunes  which  befell  Job,  it  tells  only  indirectly  about  the 
vicissitudes  suffered  by  King  Shubshi-meshri-Bel  —  by  his  re- 
ferring to  them  in  his  contemplations.  In  view  of  these  essen- 
tial differences  both  in  contents  and  form,  the  idea  of  literary 


THE  PROLOGUE  11 

relation  between  the  Job-story  and  the  Babylonian  poem  is 
excluded.^ 

4.    No  Relation  between  the  Book  of  Job  and  the 

Egyptian  Poem,  "  The  Discourse  between  a  Man 

Weary  of  Life  and  his  Own  SouV^ 

Still  less  can  the  Egyptian  poem,  The  Discourse  between  a 
Man  Weary  of  Life  and  his  Own  Soul,  be  considered  a  source 
of  the  Job-story.  The  poem  leaves  us  altogether  in  the  dark 
as  to  the  personal  fortunes  which  gave  rise  to  the  pessimism 
and  despair  of  "the  man  weary  of  life";  there  is  not  the 
slightest  hint  that  he  suffered  a  fate  similar  to  that  of  Job. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  nothing  in  this  poetic  fragment,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  chance  parallels,  could  suggest  comparison 
with  the  Book  of  Job.^    The  purport  of  the  poem,  as  the  dis- 

1  Cf.  S.  Landersdorfer,  Eine  Babylonische  Quelle  fiir  das  Buck  Job  ?  1911, 
(Biblische  Studien,  Freiburg,  i.  B.  XVI,  2) :  also  M.  Jastrow,  A  Babylonian 
Parallel  to  the  Story  of  Job  (JBL.  XXV,  pp.  135ff.),  and  Die  Religion 
Babyloniens  und  Assyriens,  II,  pp.  120ff.  Landersdorfer's  exhaustive 
treatise  on  the  subject  leaves  no  room  for  the  theory  of  either  direct  or 
indirect  dependence  of  the  Book  of  Job  upon  the  Babylonian- Assyrian  poem. 

In  regard  to  the  attempt  of  Cheyne  (Enc.  Bibl.  II,  col.  2464  and  2469) 
and  others  to  prove  from  the  name  Ijjob  the  Babylonian  origin  of  the  story 
(as  well  as  to  other  speculations  about  the  etymology  of  the  name  Job), 
it  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  etymologies  in  general,  and  of 
proper  names  in  particular,  unless  substantiated  by  concrete  facts,  are 
valueless.  Who  could  ever  guess  that  the  etymology  of  French  bonheur 
and  malheur  is  bonum  augurimn  and  malum  augurium,  or  that  English 
sin,  German  Sinde  is  the  present  participle  of  the  verb  to  be  ?  That  similar 
etymological  intricacies  are  not  uncommon  in  Hebrew  has  in  recent  years 
become  widely  recognized;  cf.  e.g.  mallah,  "  sailor,"  a  Sumerian  composite 
of  ma,  "  ship,"  and  lah,  "  to  steer." 

2  The  poem  has  been  edited  with  a  translation  and  an  exhaustive  com- 
mentary by  A.  Erman,  Gesprdch  eines  Lebensmuden  mit  seiner  Seele  (1896). 
A  translation  of  the  poem  by  Griffith  is  found  in  World^s  Best  Literature,  p., 
5319,  and  one  by  Ranke  in  Gressmann,  Altorientalische  Texte  und  Bilder, 
pp.  195fe. 

3  The  opposite  conclusion  of  Friess,  Das  Philosophische  Gesprdch  von 
Plato  bis  Hiob  (1904)  pp.  12-26,  rests  on  conjectures  as  to  the  contents  of 


12  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

tinguished  Eg^-ptologist  Erman  states,  is  unmistakably  this: 
TTor  him  who  has  seen  the  wickedness  of  men  and  the  ways  of 
^  the  world,  death  holds  no  terrors ;  death  is  to  him  a  home- 
coming from  a  strange  land,  a  recovering  from  heavy  sickness.^ , 

5.     The  Typical  Form  of  the  Joh-Narrative 

It  has  been  generally  pointed  out  as  a  difference  in  form  be- 
tween the  Prologue  and  the  Dialogues  that  the  latter  are  in 
poetry,  while  ^he  former  is  in  prose.  This  view,  however,  must 
be  modified.  The  narrative  is  not  written  in  prose  through- 
out, but  consists  of  a  mixture  of  prose  and  verse^  Job's  expres- 
sion of  grief  and  of  submission  to  God  is  generally  acknowledged 
to  have  poetic  form.  And  equally  apparent,  to  my  mind,  is 
the  rhythm  of  the  rejoinder  of  the  Satan,  2.  4  6 : 

*dr  be' ad  'or  icekoWdsher  la'ish  jitten  he* ad  nafsho. 

Not  only  this ;  the  immediate  continuation  of  Satan's  rejoinder, 
2.  5,  the  entire  dialogue  in  both  scenes  in  Heaven,  i.e.  1.  7-11, 
and  2.  2-6,  the  brief  dialogue  between  Job  and  his  wife, 
2.  9-10  a-h,  with  its  concluding  half-line,  10  c,  the  reports  of 
Job's  calamities,  with  their  refrain-like  'od  zee  medahher  wezoe  bd' 
wajjomar,  1.  14-19,  and  the  brief  utterance  of  Job  in  1.  5  are 
all  distinguished  from  the  remaining  verses  by  their  rhythmic 
flow  and  poetic  diction.  Finally,  the  conclusion  of  Job's  first 
trial,  1.  22,  and  the  parallel  half  verse,  2.  10  c,  have  poetic  form. 
Now,  if  we  ask  whether  these  poetic  passages  have  anything  in 
common,  the  answer  is  that  with  exception  of  1.  22  and  2. 10  c, 
which  in  reality  constitute  only  one  exception,  they  are  direct 
discourse ;  in  other  words  they  form  short  dialogues  or  mono- 

the  missing  and  obscure  parts  and  as  to  the  fate  and  personal  experiences 
of  the  despondent  speaker.     Budde,  though  in  no  wise  sharing  the  extreme 
view  of  Friess,  points  to  this  poem  as  another  model  which  may  have 
influenced  the  poetic  technique  of  the  Book  of  Job  {op.  cit.  p.  XVI). 
^  Op.  cit.  p.  5. 


THE  PROLOGUE  13 

logues.  At  once  an  important  point  of  similarity  between  the 
body  of  the  book  and  the  narrative  is  estabHshed :  in  both  the 
direct  discourse  has  poetic  form.  This  type  of  narrative  art 
is  not  pecuHar  to  the  Book  of  Job  alone,  nor  to  Bibhcal 
narrative  Hterature  in  general  (numerous  examples  occur  in 
both  the  Hexateuch  and  the  Historical  books  ^),  but  must  at 
one  time,  in  the  more  remote  stages  of  literary  production, 
have  been  common  to  all  literatures,  those  of  the  Occident  as 
well  as  of  the  Orient.  Attention  was  first  drawn  to  this  primi- 
tive type  of  narrative  art,  about  forty  years  ago,  by  two  dis- 
tinguished Sanskritists,  Windisch  and  Oldenberg,  who  made 
their  discovery  independently  of  each  other.^  In  view  of  the 
importance  of  this  point,  not  only  for  our  immediate  purposes, 
but  beyond  these  for  Biblical  narrative  literature  in  general, 
I  shall  quote  from  Oldenberg's  discussion  of  this  type : 

"The  Rigveda  also  contains  the  oldest  specimens  of  Hindu 
narrative  poetry.  These  show  a  peculiar  incompleteness.  The 
typical  form  of  the  narratives  was  a  mixture  of  prose  and  verse, 
but,  as  a  rule,  only  the  parts  in  verse  have  been  preserved.  .  .  . 
Fortunately,  however,  owing  to  special  circumstances,  a  very 
few  of  the  narratives  of  this  type  have  been  preserved  complete. 
It  is  from  these  that  we  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  essential  fea- 

^  See  below. 

2  E.  Windisch  touched  briefly  upon  the  occurrence  of  this  type  in  Celti 
and  in  old-Hindu  literature  in  JJher  die  Irische  Sage  und  die  Ossianfrage 
(in  Verhandlungen  der  Geraer  Philologenversammlung  1879,  p.  27f . ;  the 
article  is  more  accessible  in  the  French  translation  in  Revue  Celtique,  V, 
pp.  70ff.,  the  point  in  question  being  found  p.  86f.)  ;  in  a  later  work,  Mara 
und  Buddha  (1895),  pp.  24,  222fr.,  he  deals  more  fully  with  it,  particu- 
larly with  its  occurrence  in  Buddhistic  literature.  H.  Oldenberg  treats 
this  literary  type  at  great  length  in  Das  altindische  Akhyana  (in  ZDMG., 
1883,  XXXVII,  pp.  67-86  and  in  Akhyana  Hymnen  in  Rigveda  (ib. 
XXXIX,  pp.  52-83),  and  again  in  Die  Liter atur  des  Alien  Indien  (1903), 
pp.  44fif.,  53f .,  103,  125ff.,  231.  Cf.  also  Geldner,  Pururavas  und  Urvagi  in 
Pischel  und  Geldner,  Vedische  Studien  I  (1889),  pp.  288ff.,  where  Geldner 
shows  that  we  have  this  type  also  in  the  one  and  only  example  of  a  nar- 
rative found  (in  fragmentary  form)  in  the  Avesta. 


14  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

tures  of  this  ancient  form  of  narrative  art,  in  which  prose  and 
poetry  are  interwoven.  .  .  .  The  intermixture  of  prose  and 
verse  would  seem,  at  a  very  early  period,  to  have  suggested  itself 
to  the  human  fancy  as  the  natural  form  of  artistic  narration, 
and  once  firmly  enrooted,  to  have  maintained  itself  through  the 
centuries,  even  in  the  most  remote  centers  of  civilization.  We 
find  it  with  striking  similarity  at  the  very  opposite  ends  of  the 
Indo-European  world,  in  the  extreme  North,  the  extreme  West, 
and  the  extreme  Southeast.  The  Scandinavian  Skalds  and  the 
Irish  poets  use  it  in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  Brahman  poets 
of  Vedic  India,  or  as  centuries  later  the  great  story  tellers  of 
the  Buddhistic  monastic  order.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that 
w^e  have  here  one  of  those  primitive  forms  from  the  time  of  the 
dawn  of  literary  art  which,  thousands  of  years  before  recorded 
history  begins,  were  the  property  of  the  as  yet  undivided  Indo- 
European  people.  ...  But  what  parts  of  the  narrative  are  in 
distinction  from  the  rest  put  in  poetic  form  ?  We  find  exactly 
the  same  scheme  in  the  literature  of  India  as  in  those  of  the 
Occident.  What  is  put  in  verse  is  exclusively,  or  almost  ex- 
clusively, monologues  and  dialogues  spoken  by  the  characters 
appearing.  The  occurrences  that  give  rise  to  the  discourses 
are  related  in  prose."  ^  Oldenberg's  reason  for  his  modification, 
or  almost  exclusively,  is  that  in  addition  to  the  dramatic  parts, 
the  climax  in  the  narration  and  the  conclusion  bearing  out  the 
moral  are  often  put  in  verse  .^ 

It  will  be  seen  that  exactly  the  same  type  of  narrative  art 
is  met  with  in  the  Prologue,  where  besides  the  dialogues  and 
monologues,  the  concluding  verse  of  Job's  first  trial  has  poetic 
form.  The  latter  verse  marks  the  first  climax  in  the  narration. 
In  the  second  trial  the  dialogue  between  Job  and  his  wife,  with 
the  succeeding  half  line  (likewise  in  poetic  form),  "In  spite  of 
all  this  Job  sinned  not  with  his  lips,"  forms  the  climax. 

1  Die  Literatur  des  Alien  Indien,  pp.  44ff. 

2  See Oldenberg  in ZDMG.,  XXXVII,  p.  79f .,  and  Geldner, op.  cit.,pp.  91fF. 


THE  PROLOGUE  15 

As  I  have  already  indicated,  the  type  is  found  throughout 
BibHeal  narrative  Hterature.  It  is  not  limited  to  such  isolated 
cases  as  the  curse  pronounced  upon  the  serpent  and  man  (Gen. 
3. 14-19),  Lemech's  self-condemnation  (ib.  4.  23  f.),  the  Blessing 
of  Isaac  {ib.  27. 27-29,  39f.),  the  blessings  of  Balaam  (in  Nu.  23 
and  24),  and  a  few  similar  curses  and  blessings,  the  poetic  form 
of  which,  though  incorrectly  accounted  for,  has  generally  been 
recognized  —  even  in  the  ancient  manuscripts  of  both  the 
Hebrew  text  and  the  Greek  version.  Numerous  other  examples 
of  diverse  contents  occur .^ 

1  The  following  examples,  chosen  at  random,  to  which  many  others 
might  be  added,  will  suflSce  to  show  how  prevalent  this  type  is  in  Old 
Testament  hterature:  (1)  The  dialogue  between  God  and  Cain,  Gen. 
4  6_7^  9_i4  J  (2)  Jacob's  protest  and  account  of  himself  to  Laban,  ib. 
31.  36-44;  (3)  Jacob's  prayer  for  deliverance  from  Esau,  ib.  32.  10-13; 
(4)  The  butler  and  baker  telling  Joseph  their  dreams,  ib.  40.  9-19 ;  (5)  God's 
instructions  to  Moses  preparatory  to  His  revelation  on  Sinai,  together  with 
the  Decalogue,  Ex.  19.  3  6-6,  9-13,  20.  1-17 ;  (6)  The  announcement  of 
divine  punishment  to  EK,  I  Sam.  2.  27-36 ;  (7)  The  Phihstines  expressmg 
their  fear  at  the  appearance  of  the  ark,  ib.  4.  7-9 ;  (8)  The  dialogue  between 
David  and  Saul  after  David  had  spared  Saul's  life,  ib.  24.  10-22 ;  (9)  The 
plea  of  the  wise  woman  of  Tekoa  for  Absalom's  recall,  II  Sam.  14.  5-20 ; 
(10)  Elijah's  Theophany,  I  Ki.  19.4  6,96-18;  (11)  The  four  hundred  proph- 
ets and  Micajah  ben  Jimlah  prophesying  before  Ahab,  ib.  22. 11  6-13,  15-17, 
19-23;  (12)  Rabshekah's  address  to  the  people  of  Jerusalem  together 
with  Hezekiah's  message  to  Isaiah  and  the  answer  of  the  latter,  II  Ki. 
18.  19-36,  19.  3-4,  6-7. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  an  analysis  of  the  formal  character 
and  structure  that  differentiate  these  pieces  from  their  surrounding  prose. 
Only  briefly  may  it  be  noted  that  they  are  all  marked  by  that  rhythmic- 
melodic  element  which  is  the  chief  characteristic  of  all  poetry  —  the  deter- 
mining factor  in  the  even  balance  or  symmetry  of  the  various  syntactical 
parts  that  make  up  the  poetic  line  or  sentence.  This  element  is  so  on  the 
surface  that  it  is  inevitably  detected  even  though  one  may  know  nothing 
about  the  meter  employed.  Even  a  child  whose  ear  has  been  only  slightly 
trained  to  poetry  cannot  fail  to  notice  it.  It  should  be  added  that  this  in- 
termixture of  prose  and  poetry  in  Hebrew  narrative  literature  furnishes 
conclusive  proof  that^  there  is  a  basic  mistake  somewhere  in  the  metrical 
system  of  Sievers,  according  to  which  the  entire  Old  Testament  would  be 
written  in  verse  (c/.  his  Siudien  zur  Hebraischen  Meirik,  I.  pp.  373-399,  II. 
Die  Hebrdische  Genesis) . 


16  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

The  fact  that  the  words  addressed  to  Eliphaz  by  God  in  42. 7f . 

of  the  Epilogue  are  in  prose  does  not  invahdate  what  has  been 
remarked  about  the  hterary  type  of  the  Prologue^nor  does  it  in 
any  way  permit  the  inference  that  these  verses  of  the  Epilogue 
are  by  another  writer,  for  not  all  dialogues  or  direct  discourse 
have  metrical  form,  but  as  may  be  seen  from  the  examples 
enumerated,  only  those  that  have  enough  of  the  dramatic  or 
imaginative  element  to  warrant  poetic  diction. 

6.     The  Narrative  a  Product  of  FinisJied  Art 

It  has  further  been  claimed  that  the  narrative  bears  all  the 
earmarks  of  a  folk-tale,  the  use  or  quotation  of  what  to  all 
appearances  are  proverbial  phrases,  the  verbatim  repetition  of 
whole  sentences,  and  the  other  stylistic  peculiarities  of  popular 
stories.^ 

As  to  the  use  of  proverbial  phrases  or  adages,  this  is  not  a 
peculiarity  of  the  narrative  parts  of  Job;  such  phrases  and 
adages  occur  very  frequently  also  in  the  Dialogues. 

Indubitable  examples  are : 

"To  go  to  the  land  of  darkness  whence  there  is  no  return,"  10.  21, 
or  "To  go  the  way  whence  there  is  no  return,"  16.  22,  both  being  com- 
mon expressions  in  Baby  Ionian- Assjo-ian  literature;  ^  "I  hold  my  life 
in  my  teeth,"  13.  14,  the  Arabic  parallel  of  which  is  "His  life  is  be- 
tween his  jaws,"  2  both  meaning  to  be  at  the  point  of  death;  "I  take 
my  life  m  my  hands  "  (ib.),  a  common  expression  in  Hebrew  ^  as  well 
as  in  many  other  languages;  "His  roots  beneath  will  be  dried  up, 
and  his  harvest  above  will  wither,"  18.  16  —  a  common  Semitic  pro- 
verbial expression,  as,  e.g.,  the  parallel  "May  they  not  produce  roots 

1  Cf.  Wellhausen's  Review  of  Dillmann,  Das  Buch  Hiob  in  JdTh.,  XVI 
(1871),  p.  555,  Budde,  op.  cit.,  p.  XIII,  Laue,  Die  Composition  des  Bushes 
Hiob,  p.  123. 

2  CJ.  "Ishtar's  Descent  to  Hell"  in  KB.  VI,  pp.  80£f.  Obverse  I,  4-6, 
12,  41,  63.  76.  Reverse  6.  13f. 

3  an-nafsu  minhu  bi-shidkihi,  Hudheil  106,  16. 

« It  occurs  again  Judg.  12.  3,  I  Sam.  19.  5,  28.  21. 


THE  PROLOGUE  17 

beneath  nor  fruit  above"  in  the  Phoenician  tomb-inscription  of  Esh- 
munazar  shows  (note  also  the  parallels  Am.  2.  9  and  Is.  37. 31) ;  "  Long 
enough  even  to  swallow  my  spittle,"  7.19  —  another  common  Semitic 
proverbial  phrase,  as  may  be  inferred  from  its  repeated  occurrence 
in  Arabic ;  ^  "My  bones  stick  through  my  skin,"  19.  20,^  which  occurs 
again  Ps.  102.  6,  and  to  which  parallels  are  found  in  many  languages ;  ^ 
"  Like  straw  driven  by  the  wind,  like  chaff  which  the  storm  carrieth 
away,"  21.  18,  which  are  common  Bibhcal  phrases;  ^  "The  hand  of 
God  worketh  this,"  12.  9,  which  with  a  different  imphcation  occurs 
agamls.  41.  20;  "Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood,"  16.  18— a  uni- 
versal stock  phrase;  ^  and  probably  also  "The  clods  of  the  valley  are 
sweet  unto  him,"  21.  33.« 

In  addition  to  these  another  group  of  phrases  must  be  mentioned : 

"The  roaring  of  the  lion,  the  cry  of  the  jungle  king  is  stilled, 

And  the  teeth  of  the  vigorous  young  lions  are  knocked  out ; 

For  lack  of  prey  the  hon  perisheth. 

And  the  brood  of  the  lion  is  scattered."     4.  10  f . 

"Impetuous  spirits  soar  high,"  5.  7; 

"  Doth  the  wild  ass  bray  amidst  green  grass  ?    Or  doth  the  ox  low  at 

his  fodder?"  6.5. 

"  Contempt  to  him  who  suffereth  misfortune, 

A  kick  to  those  that  have  lost  their  footing  ! "  12.  5 ; 

"Wilt  thou  scare  a  leaf  driven  by  the  wind?    Or  wilt  thou  pursue 

dry  straw?"   13.25; 

"A  person  inviteth  his  friends  to  a  portion, 

Whilst  his  children  are  weeping  their  eyes  out,"  17.  5 ; 

"I  have  escaped  by  the  skin  of  my  teeth,"  19.  20. 

1  Cf.  Schultens,  Liber  Jobi,  ad  loc. ;  De  Sacy,  Chresto7nathie  Arabe,  111, 
p.  259 ;  Fleischer,  Kleiner e  Schriften,  II,  p.  265. 

2  See  comment  on  Job  19.  20. 

3  Cf.  e.g.  ''His  skin  sticks  to  his  bones,"  Apastampa  Sr.  X.  14,  9  (quoted 
by  Hillebrandt,  Ritualliteratur,  Vedische  Opfer  und  Zauber,  p.  146,  and 
Oldenberg,  Religion  des  Veda,  p.  402 ;  cf.  to  this  Vedic  parallel  Lament. 
4.8) ;  Latin  Pellis  et  ossa  sum,  Plaut.  Capt.  I.  2,  32;  English,  "He  is  all 
skin  and  bones." 

*Cf.  Is.  17.  13,  40.  24;  Jer.  13.  24;  Ps.  1.  4,  35.  5,  83.  14;  also  Is. 
29.  5,  41.  2,  15f . ;  Hos.  13.  3. 

s  See  commentary  to  this  verse  and  M.  Buttenwieser,  Blood-revenge  and. 
Burial  Rites  in  Ancient  Israel,  in  JAGS.,  XXXIX,  1919,  p.  317f. 

6  Cf.  among  other  parallels  Latin,  Terra  sit  suver  ossa  levis,  Enghsh, 
"May  the  earth  lie  light  on  him." 


18  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

It  cannot  be  decided  whether  all  the  examples  of  this  group, 
though  possessing  every  characteristic  of  the  proverb,  are  to  be 
classed  as  adages  current  in  that  age,  or  whether  some  of  them 
at  least,  are  not  original  with  the  author  of  Job.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that,  while  every  great  writer  draws  from  the  ex- 
isting stock  of  proverbial  expressions  and  colloquialisms,  he 
quite  as  often  coins  apt  phrases,  which  in  their  turn  become 
proverbial.    A  classical  example  is  Shakespeare. 

Not  only,  however,  are  proverbial  phrases  not  confined  to 
the  parts  of  Job  which  have  been  claimed  to  be  of  folk  origin, 
they  are  in  no  way  specifically  characteristic  of  folk-tales. 
They  are  quite  a  common  feature  of  Biblical  narratives,^  and 
not  only  of  these,  but  also  of  Hindu  narratives,  and  for  that 
matter  of  ancient  narrative  literature  in  general,  irrespective 
of  whether  folk  stories  or  products  of  reflective  art  come  in 
question.^    The  presence  then  of  adages  or  proverbial  phrases 

1  Cf.  e.g.  I  Sam.  15.  22f.,  "To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  to  hearken 
better  than  the  fat  of  rams.  Yea,  rebelhousness  is  hke  the  sin  of  witchcraft, 
stubbornness  is  Hke  impious  Teraphim-worship ; "  16.  7,  "Man  looketh  at 
the  outward  appearance,  but  God  looketh  at  the  heart ; "  24.  13,  "  From  the 
wicked  wickedness  may  come  forth,  but  let  not  my  hand  be  against  thee ;" 
V.  14,  "After  whom  art  thou  in  pursuit,  after  a  dead  dog,  after  a  single 
flea?"  (The  quotation  of  the  proverb  explains  the  change  from  the  third 
to  the  second  person)  ;  II  Sam.  20.  1  and  I  Kj.  12.  16,  "We  have  no  por- 
tion in  David,  nor  any  heritage  in  the  son  of  Jesse.  Every  man  to  liis 
tent,  O  Israel !"  {cf.  also  Gen.  31.  14,  "Have  we  still  any  portion  or  heritage 
in  our  father's  house?") ;  I  Ki.  12.  10,  "My  little  finger  is  tliicker  than  my 
father's  loins;"  v.  11,  "My  father  chastised  you  with  wliips,  but  I  will 
chastise  you  with  scorpions;"  II  Ki.  19.  3,  "The  children  have  come  to  the 
neck  of  the  womb,  but  strength  faileth  her  that  is  in  travail." 

Like  the  type  of  narrative  art,  discussed  pp.  10-14,  this  pecuHarity  of 
BibUcal  literature  is  interesting  not  only  in  itself,  but  because  of  its  general 
importance  for  Hterary  criticism. 

2  Even  in  prophetic  Hterature  proverbial  phrases  are  not  infrequent. 
Unmistakable  examples  are:  —  Is.  22.  14,  "Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for 
to-morrow  we  die;"  23.  16,  "Take  a  harp,  and  walk  about  the  city,  thou 
harlot  that  hast  been  forgotten ;  play  skillfully,  sing  many  songs,  that 
thou  mayest  be  remembered;"  28.  20,  "The  bed  is  too  short  to  stretch 
oneself  out  in,  the  covering  is  too  narrow  to  wrap  oneself  in;"  56.  12, 


THE  PROLOGUE  19 

does  not  justify  the  inference  drawn  by  Wellhausen  and  others 
that  the  Job-story  is  a  product  of  folk  Hterature. 

The  same  statement  applies  to  the  repetition  of  whole  sen- 
tences. Repetitions  are  not  a  special  characteristic  of  folk- 
tales; they  are  a  feature  of  ancient  narrative  literature  in 
general.  They  occur  with  frequency  throughout  Biblical 
narrative  literature  —  Old  and  New  Testament  alike  —  and 
with  still  greater  frequency  in  Egyptian  and  Hindu  literature. 

To  mention  a  few  examples  from  the  Old  Testament : 
In  the  story  of  Creation  (Gen.  1)  "God  saw  that  it  was  good"  re- 
curs five  times.i  In  "Pharaoh's  dreams,"  (Gen.  41)  the  dreams  are 
related  by  Pharaoh  word  for  word  as  they  have  been  told  before.^  In 
the  story  "The  Golden  Calf"  (Ex.  32),  "Make  us  a  god  which  will  go 
before  us,  for  as  for  the  man  Moses  who  brought  us  up  out  of  Egypt, 
we  know  not  what  has  happened  to  him,"  and  "This  is  thy  God,  0 

"Come,  let  us  fetch  wine,  and  let  us  carouse,  and  to-morrow  shall  be  as 
to-day,  an  exceeding  high  day;"  Jer.  13.  12,  "Skins  are  wont  to  be  filled 
with  wine ;"  15.  10,  "I  have  not  lent  to  them,  nor  have  they  lent  to  me ;" 
31.  29  (Ezk.  18.  2)  "The  fathers  eat  sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth 
are  set  on  edge"  (c/.  the  Arabic  parallel  "He  who  eats  not  sour  grapes, 
his  teeth  are  not  set  on  edge,"  Socin,  Arabische  Spruchworter,  No.  412) ; 
48.  11,  "He  has  settled  on  his  lees,  and  has  not  been  emptied  from  ves- 
sel to  vessel;"  "He  has  retained  his  taste,  his  flavor  has  not  changed" 
(c/.  also  Zeph.  1.  12) ;  Am.  5.  19,  "He  fled  from  the  Hon,  and  the  bear 
attacked  him,  and  when  he  entered  the  house  and  leaned  his  arm  against 
the  wall,  a  serpent  bit  him"  (compare  the  Arabic  parallel,  "He  fled  from 
the  bear,  but  fell  in  the  well,"  Freytag,  Proverbia  Arabum,  III,  No.  3165, 
also  2315) ;  Hos.  4.  11,  "Whoredom  and  wine  deprive  a  man  of  his  senses ;  " 
9.  7,  "The  prophet  is  a  fool,  the  man  inspired  by  the  spirit  is  crazy;" 
13.  13,  "He  is  an  unwise  son,  at  the  proper  time  he  did  not  enter  the  neck 
of  the  womb"  (cf.  II  Ki.  19.  3,  quoted  above) ;  Mic.  2.  4  (as  reconstructed 
by  Stade  on  the  basis  of  the  Grk),  "The  land  of  my  people  is  being  meas- 
ured with  a  line,  there  is  none  to  restore  it ;  our  fields  are  distributed  among 
our  captors,  we  have  been  utterly  destroyed"  (note  that  the  lines  are 
spoken  of  as  a  proverb) ;  3.3  b  (and  its  variant  v.  26),  "They  flay  the  people 
and  lay  bare  their  bones"  (cf.  Latin  ossa  nudare) ;  Hab.  2.  11,  "The  stone 
in  the  wall  cries  out  and  the  timber  joins  in;"  also  Am.  1.  2,  "Yahweh 
shall  roar  from  Zion  and  thunder  from  Jerusalem"  {cf.  M.  Buttenwieser, 
The  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  227ff.). 

1  Cf.  Gen.  1. 10,  12,  18,  25.  2  Cf.  Gen.  41.  2-7  and  17-24. 


20  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Israel,  that  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,"  are  verbatun 
repeated.!  In  the  story  "The  Fall  of  Jericho"  (Josh.  6),  "Seven 
priests  shall  bear  seven  trumpets  of  ranis'  horns  before  the  ark,"  and 
"The  seven  priests  bearing  the  seven  trumpets  of  rams'  horns  before 
the  ark  of  the  Lord"  occur  each  twice,^  while  v.  20  b-c  is  an  almost 
verbatim  repetition  of  v.  5  b-c.  And  in  the  story  "Samuel's  Call" 
(I  Sam.  3),  "He  said,  'Here  am  I,  thou  hast  called  me.'  And  he 
said,  *I  did  not  call,  he  down  again'  "  occurs  twice,  the  first  part, 
three  times  .^  As  an  example  from  the  New  Testament,  the  parable 
Matth.  25.  20-23  may  be  cited. 

Finally,  as  to  the  view  that  the  story  has  all  the  other  traits 
of  popular  tales,  it  is  important  to  note  that  popular  tales,  es- 
pecially when  transmitted  orally  for  centuries,  invariably  show 
signs  of  growth  and  amplification.  A  typical  illustration  of 
amplification  is  furnished  by  the  Greek  version  of  the  Job-story 
in  the  altered  taunt  and  in  the  added  lamentation  of  Job's  wife 
(because  of  the  privation  that  has  come  to  her  through  Job's 
affliction),  as  also  in  a  number  of  minor  additions  and  alterations.^ 
Along  w^ith  such  amplifications  go  a  certain  diffuseness  in  narra- 
tion and  a  tendency  to  elaborate  details.  In  the  Job-story  of 
the  Hebrew  original  there  is  nothing  of  this  sort.  Everything 
is  vivid  and  concise.  At  no  point  of  the  narration  is  the  prog- 
ress retarded  or  the  attention  distracted  by  ornamental  de- 
scription or  accessory  details.  The  narration  proceeds  with 
great  rapidity  and  is  intensely  dramatic.  The  fourfold  repeti- 
tion, "While  he  was  still  speaking,  another  one  came  and  said," 
brings  home  the  suddenness  with  which  the  disaster  overtook 
Job  and  with  which  blow  upon  blow  was  dealt  to  him.  So 
quickly  do  the  reports  of  his  misfortune  succeed  one  another 
that  he  has  scarcely  time  to  realize  his  various  losses  before 
their  culmination  is  reached  in  the  death  of  his  children.     Then 

1  Cf.  Ex.  32.  1,  4,  8,  23.      ^  cf.  Josh.  6.  4,  6,  8,  13.      3  j  Sam.  3.  5,  6,  8. 

4  The  amplification  in  the  taunt  and  the  lamentation  comprises  five 
verses,  2.  9-9  d  of  the  Greek.  Of  the  minor  additions  and  alterations, 
note  the  redundant  Gk.  1.  5  d,  1.  21  d,  the  last  clause  of  2.  3,  and  the 
royal  rank  of  the  friends. 


THE  PROLOGUE  21 

all  thought  of  material  loss  is  swept  from  his  mind,  and  he  gives 
way  to  an  outburst  of  grief  over  his  bereavement.  The  repeti- 
tion adds  wonderfully  to  the  vividness  of  the  narration,  and 
sharpens  the  suspense  of  the  reader  in  preparation  for  the  mo- 
ment when  Job  will  give  expression  to  his  feelings/"^ 

Job's  grief  over  the  sudden  loss  of  his  children  could  not  be 
more  effectively  described  than  by  the  one  line : 

"  Naked  came  I  from  my  mother's  womb 
And  naked  shall  I  return  thither." 

The  euphemism  thither  for  Sheol  ^  suggesting,  as  it  does,  the 
natural  shudder  at  the  thought  of  the  realm  of  the  dead,  adds 
to  the  impression  of  loneliness  and  desolation  which  the  whole 
line  conveys. 

The  following  line  in  the  contrast  it  calls  up  and  in  its  utter 
simplicity  produces  a  highly  dramatic  effect : 

I  ''The  Lord  gave,  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  \ 
■\^Praised  be  the  name  of  the  Lord !" 

With  this  the  first  climax  toward  which  the  story  has  been  mov- 
ing is  reached.     His  every  hope  in  life  has  been  shattered,  yet 

1  That  Job  in  expressing  his  grief  and  submission  has  reference  only 
to  the  death  of  his  children  follows  from  the  fact  that  "The  Lord  gave, 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away"  is  a  common  Semitic  prayer  which  was  recited 
on  a  person's  death  by  his  nearest  of  kin.     See  below,  p.  36. 

2  This  euphemistic  expression  occurs  again  3.  17.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  is  the  explanation  of  shama,  for  this  euphemism  is  not 
restricted  to  Hebrew,  but  is  common  to  ancient  literature  in  general.  In 
Egyptian  ntj  'im,  "he  who  is"  or  "they  who  are  there,"  is  a  very  frequent 
euphemism  for  those  in  the  netherworld  or  the  dead;  in  the  poem  quoted 
above,  "The  Discourse  between  a  Man  Weary  of  Life  and  his  Own  Soul," 
it  occurs  three  times  (vv.  51-53).  Correspondingly  in  Coptic  pma  etmmaw, 
"that  place, "  literally  "the  place  which  is  there, "  occurs  as  euphemism  for 
the  other  world  or  the  netherworld  (see  E.  A.  W.  Budge,  Coptic  Homilies 
in  the  Dialect  of  Upper  Egypt  (1910),  p.  151,  note  1).  And  in  Greek  iKci 
"there"  and  eKeia-e  "thither"  are  common  euphemisms  for  in  Hades 
and  to  Hades  or  to  the  other  world,  and  ol  €<«  is  equally  common  as 
euphemism  for  the  dead. 


22  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 


with  unshaken  faith  Job  expresses  his  submission  to  God.  and 
for  the  time  being  Satan  stands  defeated. 

The  second  part  is  on  the  same  high  level  as  the  first.  Note 
the  effect  produced  by  having  Yahweh  disclose  that  He  has 
been  moved  by  the  Satan  to  ruin  Job,  contrary  to  his  deserts, 
"without  cause,"  and  by  the  contrast  so  subtly  brought  out 
between  God's  complete  confidence  in  Job  and  the  Satan's 
sneering  attempt  to  make  out  that  Job's  piety  is  mere  pre- 
tense, that  at  bottom  he  is  glad  to  have  saved  his  own  skin. 
Let  him  be  put  to  a  real  test,  he  tells  Yahweh,  let  him  be  stricken 
in  his  own  person,  "  verily  he  will  curse  Thee  to  Thy  very  face." 
Accordingly,  in  order  that  virtue  may  be  shown  triumphant, 
the  Satan  is  empowered  to  smite  Job  with  the  most  hideous 
of  all  diseases,  black  leprosy.  The  magnitude  of  Job's  suffer- 
ing and  his  colossal  patience  are  emphasized  by  the  taunt  of 
his  wife : 

"  Dost  thou  still  cling  to  thy  piety  ?  Curse  God  and  die ! " 
Yet,  'fin  spite  of  all  this  Job  doth  not  sin  with  his  lips."  Equally 
dramatic  and  suggestive  is  the  brief  description  of  the  friends' 
visit.  They  came  for  the  purpose  of  comforting  Job.  But 
when  on  their  arrival  they  learn  the. true  nature  of  his  afflic- 
tion, they  suffer  a  change  of  purpose.  And  in  ominous  silence 
they  sit  before  him  for  seven  days  and  seven  nights^/ 

Throughout  the  story,  the  diverse  incidents  narrated  and 
the  various  emotions  revealed  all  converge  to  a  common  center, 
the  genuineness  of  Job's  piety.  Unlike  the  Greek  version, 
where  the  unity  in  the  narration  is  marred  by  the  self-com- 
miseration of  Job's  wife,2  the  Hebrew  original  contains  nothing 
that  is  not  directly  bound  up  with  the  main  theme  of  the 
story.     It    shows   nowhere    any    redundancy   or   diffuseness. 

1  See  Chapter  II,  pp.  43  ff. 

2  It  should  be  added  that  many  similar  examples  might  be  offered  from  i 
popular  versions  of  the  stories  of  the  Pangatantra  and  from  the  popular  | 
tales  of  ancient  Egypt.  J 


THE  PROLOGUE  23 

Everything  is  expressed  in  the  most  concise  way  —  the  form 
fits  the  thought  perfectly.  What  Theodore  Benfey,  the  fore- 
most authority  on  fable-Hterature,  pointed  out  sixty  years 
ago  in  regard  to  the  features  distinguishing  products  of  re- 
flective art  from^folk  stories  ^  apphes  with  special  fitness  to  the 
Job-narrative.  Such  complete  harmony  of  form  and  thought 
must  be  the  work  of  an  individual  genius  of  the  highest  order. 
The  Job-story  is  a  product  of  reflective  art  just  as  are  the 
story  of  Ruth  and  the  story  of  Jonah,  two  other  masterpieces 
dating  from  the  same  period.  In  these,  as  in  Job,  the  vivid- 
ness and  lofty  simplicity  of  presentation,  the  depth  of  thought 
and  the  subtle  harmony  of  thought  and  form  are  the  out- 
standing literary  features.  In  all  three,  psychological  analysis, 
moral  prekthment,  and  literary  ornament  are  so  dexterously 
woven  into  the  fabric,  so  made  a  vital  part  of  it,  that  the 
reader  is  not  aware  of  the  process  but  conscious  only  of  the 
effect. 

1  In  view  of  the  radically  wrong  view  predominating  at  the  present  time, 
I  deem  it  advisable  to  quote  Benfey  in  full.  Discussing  the  question 
whether  the  Greek  fable,  "The  Rescue  of  the  Lion  by  the  Mouse,"  or  its 
Hindu  versions,  "The  Elephants  and  the  Mice,"  have  claim  to  priority, 
Benfey  remarks : 

"Die  Schonheit,  vollstandige  Congruenz  der  Idee  und  der  Form  ergibt 
sich  in  diesen  und  ahnlichen,  urspriingUch  vielleicht  im  Schose  des  Volks 
gedichteten  imd  lange  darin  lebenden.  •  .  .  Geistesschopfungen  gewohn- 
lich  erst  als  Product  einer  lange  fortwirkenden  gewissermassen  reflexiven 
ki'itischen  Umgestaltung  —  an  welcher  das  Volk  mehr  urteilend  als  schaffend 
teilnimmt.  Wenn  wir  die  Geschichte  aller  Fabeln,  Erzahlungen,  Volks- 
gedichte,  Volksepen  u.s.w.  bis  zu  ihrem  ersten  Ursprunge  verfolgen  konnten, 
wiirden  wir,  glaube  ich,  erkennen,  dass  die  schonsten  Werke  derart,  die 
wir  besitzen,  aus  oft  sehr  unformlichen  Anfangen  hervorgegangen,  dass 
sie  erst  durch  langes  Treiben  im  Strome  des  Volkslebens  zu  der  denselben 
homogenen  Form  abgerundet  sind  und  alsdann  ihre  hochste  Vollendung 
dadurch  erhielten,  dass  sie  durch  eine  fiir  die  oder  fiir  die  andere  dieser 
Formen  hochbegabte  Individualitat  als  lebendiger  Ausdruck  des  Volks- 
geistes  ergriffen  und  mit  dem  Geprage  eines  hochstehenden  individuellen 
Geistes  bezeichnet  wurden."     Pantschatantra,  I,  325f . ;  cf.  also  p.  328f. 


24  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB 

7.    The  Prologue  and  the  Dialogues  Tally  in  the  Details 
about  Job 

The  view  in  regard  to  the  alleged  lack  of  unity  and  the  ap- 
parent contradictions  between  the  Prologue  and  the  Dialogues 
is  not  sustained  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the  two,  any  more 
than  is  the  theory  of  a  difference  in  form  and  literary 
quality. 

"My  stench  is  loathsome  libene  bitnl"  (19.  17)  has  repeatedly 
been  pointed  out  as  proof  that  for  the  time  being  the  writer 
of  the  Dialogues  must  have  been  oblivious  of  the  happenings 
told  in  the  Prologue,  and  that  he  cannot,  therefore,  have  been 
the  author  of  the  latter.^  If  by  bene  bitnl  "my  offspring" 
were  meant,  the  expression  in  the  mouth  of  Job  would  cer- 
tainly be  strange,  as  by  the  nature  of  the  case  "  children  of  my 
womb"  can  be  said  only  by  a  woman.  It  is  never  used  by  a 
man.^  The  corresponding  Biblical  phrase  for  a  man  to  use  is 
jose'e  jarki  or  jose'e  halasaj,  "the  issue  of  my  loins."  The  ex- 
planation of  the  phrase  bene  bitnl,  a  number  of  Biblical  scholars 
rightly  hold,  is  furnished  by  Job  3.  10  where  bitnl  is  used 
elliptically  for  beten  'immi.  By  bene  bitnl  either  " my  brothers" 
is  meant,  or  if  the  omitted  'em  is  used  of  "ancestress,"  as  e.g. 
Gen.  27.  29,  Ezk.  16.  3,  "my  kinsmen."  This  elliptical  use  of 
beten  explains  the  meaning  "clan"  with  which  the  word  is 
found  in  Arabic.^ 

Neither  does  se'esa'aj,  31.  8,  permit  the  inference  that  the 
writer  of  the  Dialogues  speaks  of  Job's  children  as  still  living, 

1  This  view  is  still  expressed  by  Duhm,  op.  cit.,  p.  100,  and  Cheyne, 
op.  cit.,  col.  2467. 

2  Neither  Mic.  6.  7  nor  Ps.  132.  11  is  an  exception  to  this  rule,  Brown, 
Driver,  and  Briggs  to  the  contrary;  in  the  former  passage,  the  writer, 
in  using  the  phrase,  perl  bitnl,  was  naturally  thinking  of  a  mother,  while 
in  the  latter  passage  we  have  the  same  elliptical  use  of  the  phrase  as  here 
in  Job. 

3  It  follows  from  the  above  explanation  that  matriarchy  has  nothing 
to  do  with  this  meaning  of  the  phrase. 


THE  PROLOGUE  25 

the  word  being  used  with  the  meaning,  "produce,"  as  the  paral- 
leHsm,  "Let  me  sow,  and  let  another  reap,"  shows. 

But  while  from  all  this  it  follows  only  that  the  argument 
advanced  on  the  ground  of  19.  17  and  31.  8  against  the  unity 
of  the  book  is  without  basis,  other  passages  may  be  referred  to 
as  positive  evidence  that  the  Dialogues  and  the  Prologue  con- 
stitute together  a  uniform  work.  Thus  in  29.  5,  "When  the 
Almighty  was  yet  with  me,  when  I  was  still  surrounded  by 
my  boys,"  we  have  a  direct  reference  to  the  death  of  Job's 
children.  The  passage  is  the  more  conclusive,  since  it  has  in 
common  with  1.  19  the  use  of  na'ar  in  the  sense  of  "son," 
equivalent  to  the  use  of  our  English  boy}  Another  reference 
in  the  Dialogues  to  the  death  of  Job's  children  is  found  8.  4, 
where  Bildad  says,  "If  thy  children  sinned  against  Him,  then 
He  cast  them  out  of  His  presence  in  penalty  for  their  sins."  ^ 
Further,  the  picture  that  is  sketched  in  chap.  29  of  the  former 
Job,  of  Job  when  he  still  enjoyed  prosperity,  tallies  in  every 
respect  with  the  description  in  the  Prologue  of  the  venerable, 
god-fearing  sheik  revered  far  and  wide  for  his  blameless,  pious 
life.  Note  also  the  way  in  which  Job  speaks  of  himself  in 
12.  4 : 

"A  laughing-stock  to  his  friends  hath  he  become 

Whose  prayer,  when  he  called  upon  Him,  God  would  answer  — 

A  laughing-stock,  the  righteous,  perfect  man." 

These  words  would  savor  of  self-righteousness,  were  it  not  that 
they  recall  the  almost  identical  words  with  which  God  bears 
testimony  to  Job's  virtuous  life  in  the  Prologue.  Finally,  it  is 
not  from  the  mere  statement  in  the  Prologue,  '^e  smote  Job 

^  Na'ar  occurs  again  with  the  meaning  son  in  Genesis  22.  5;  "I  and 
my  boy  (hanna'ar)  shall  go  thither." 

2  With  the  same  meaning  shallah  occurs  again  14.  20,  "  Thou  over- 
powerest  him  forever,  so  that  he  passeth  away;  changing  his  features, 
Thou  castest  him  off."  In  both  verses  shallah  is  elliptical  for  shallah 
me'al  panaiv  or  paneka  {cj.  Jer.  15.  1)  and  connotes  to  deliver  up  to  death. 


26  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

with  sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  to  the  crown  of  his 
head,"  but  from  Job's  repeated  references  in  the  Dialogues  to 
the  symptoms  and  nature  of  his  disease  that  we  learn  that  he 
was  stricken  with  elephantiasis. 

8.    Unity  of  Character  and  Action 

^  Yet  notwithstanding  this  subtle  harmony  by  which  they 
are  bound  together,  the  critics  consider  the  Prologue  and  the 
Dialogues  irreconcilable  for  the  following  reasons : 

(1)  The  Job  of  the  Prologue  and  the  Job  of  the  Dialogues, 
they  argue,  contradict  each  other,  since  in  the  former  Job 
accepts  his  reverses  in  a  spirit  of  pious  submission,  while  in  the 
latter  "he  hurls  invectives  at  God,  and  subjects  the  divine 
world-rule  to  the  most  scathing  criticism."  (2)  The  Pro- 
logue, they  maintain,  is  concerned  with  the  question  whether 
such  a  thing  'as  disinterested  piety  or  true  vhtue  exists,  while 
the  Dialogues  deal  with  the  problem  of  suffering  —  why  the 
righteous  are  afflicted,  and  how  their  affliction  is  to  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  justice  of  God.  (3)  Finally,  they  point  out 
that  "  in  the  Prologue  the  Satan  is  the  instigator  of  Job's  trials 
and  the  agent  of  his  suffering,  but  in  the  Dialogues  the  discus- 
sion of  the  moral  government  of  the  world  proceeds  without  a 
single  reference  to  Satanic  agency."  "Neither  Job  nor  his 
friends  know  anything  of  such  a  being,"  but  see  in  God  the 
sole  cause  of  Job's  affliction  as  well  as  of  human  suffering  in 
general.  Nor  do  the  Dialogues  contain  the  slightest  allusion 
to  the  wager  in  Heaven.^ 


1  See  among  others  Studer,  Das  Buck  Hiob  (1881),  pp.  171ff. ;  Cheyne, 
Job  and  Solomon  (1893),  pp.  15f.,  66ff.,  Jewish  Religious  Life  after  the 
Exile,  pp.  160ff.,  164ff.,  and  op.  cit.,  col.  2466f. ;  L.  Laue,  op.  cit.,  pp.  77, 
120ff. ;  Budde,  op.  cit.,  pp.  Xllff.,  XXIXflf. ;  Duhm,  op.  cit.,  pp.  Vllf., 
IXf. ;  Friedr.  Delitzsch,  Das  Buck  Hioh  (1902),  pp.  13ff. ;  Volz,  Das 
Buch  Hioh  (in  Schriften  des  Alt.  Test.  ed.  Gressmann),  pp.  If.,  17;  G.  A. 
Barton,  The  Book  of  Job  (1911),  pp.  2,  7;  J.  Strahan,  The  Book  of  Job 
(1913),  p.  23. 


THE  PROLOGUE  27 

As  the  refutation  of  this  view  of  the  book  will  be  included 
in  the  next  chapter  (and  also  in  the  synopses  of  the  various 
speeches  of  Job),  where  it  will  be  shown  that  the  Prologue  and 
the  Dialogues  are  knit  together  by  unity  of  character  and 
action,  we  may  limit  ourselves  here  to  a  brief  discussion,  for 
the  purpose  of  disposing  of  certain  preliminary  matters : 

(1)  The  Job  of  the  Dialogues  is  no  less  at  one  with  his  God 
than  the  Job  of  the  Prologue ;  in  a  sense,  indeed,  he  enjoys  a 
deeper  union.  His  old  tranquillity  of  mind  has  of  necessity 
given  way  to  anguish  and  bitterness,  but  he  clings  the  more  j[ 
closely  to  his  God.  To  Him  he  turns  for  comfort,  and  to  Him 
he  looks  for  vindication  —  He  is  his  refuge  and  his  strength. 
Even  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  debate,  when  the  friends 
are  shocked  at  what  they  consider  his  blasphemy,  Job  makes 
it  clear  that  their  judgment  wrongs  him,  that  his  aim  in  life  is 
to  know  that  he  is  in  harmony  with  "the  requirements  of  the 
Holy  One:" 

"Would  that  my  prayer  might  be  fulfilled. 
That  God  might  grant  that  for  which  I  yearn, 
That  it  might  please  God  to  crush  out  my  life, 
That  He  might  loose  His  hand  and  cut  me  off : 
And  I  should  still  have  the  consolation. 
So  that  I  could  leap  for  joy  withal  my  relentless  anguish, 
That  I  have  not  denied  the  requirements  of  the  Holy  One." 
(6.  8-10.) 

His  challenge  that  God  make  known  to  him  his  sin  he  prefaces 
with  the  declaration : 

"This  indeed  hath  been  my  support  {i.e.,  that  he  can  account 

to  God  for  his  conduct), 
For  the  godless  cannot  approach  Him."     (13.  16.) 

And  his  passionate  description  of  God^s  merciless  attack  on 
him  he  follows  up  with  the  fervent  prayer : 


28  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

"Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood. 

Let  there  be  no  place  for  my  outcry. 

Even  now  my  witness  is  in  Heaven, 

He  that  voucheth  for  me  is  on  high. 

And  since  my  friends  deride  me, 

My  streaming  eyes  are  turned  to  God 

That  He  may  plead  for  a  man  with  God 

And  take  sides  in  the  conflict  between  a  man  and  his  fellow 

men. 
Give  Thou  surety  for  me  before  Thee ! 
Who  else  would  pledge  himself  for  me?"  (16.  18-21,  17.  3.) 

This  assurance  that  he  has  God  on  his  side  runs  through  the 
entire  poem;  it  receives  more  emphatic  expression  in  each 
successive  part,  until  the  climax  is  reached  in  the  triumphant 
declaration : 

"  Would  that  He  might  hear  me ! 

I  stake  my  life  on  it  that  the  Almighty  will  hear  my  prayer. 

Then  verily,  I  will  carry  upon  my  shoulders 

The  bill  of  indictment  that  my  opponent  hath  preferred ; 

I  will  adorn  myself  with  it  as  with  a  crown. 

I  will  account  to  Him  for  every  one  of  my  steps, 

He  will  weigh  me  in  the  balance  of  righteousness, 

God  will  acknowledge  my  integrity."     (31.  35-37,  6.) 

These  declarations  show  that  though  Job  -^Tcstles  with  God, 
his  faith  in  Him  is  at  bottom  unshaken.  His  oft  repeated  cry 
that  God  has  wronged  him,  has  robbed  him  of  his  right,  does 
not  admit  of  the  interpretation  that  the  Job  of  the  Dialogues 
is  in  revolt  against  God.  It  is  against  the  WTong  conclusions 
which  have  been  drawn  from  his  affliction  that  Job  rebels.  His 
invectives  are  not  directed  against  God,  but  against  the  un- 
tenable theological  views  of  his  age,  in  particular,  and  most 
vehemently,  against  the  belief  in  retributive  justice      To  show 


THE  PROLOGUE  29 

the  injustice  of  this  belief  and  to  rouse  compassion  for  his  own 
fate,  he  protests  again  and  again  that  his  affliction  has  not  been 
incurred  by  guilt,  but  that  he  is  the  victim  of  God's  cruel  attack ; 
for  Job's  keenest  suffering  is  not  caused  by  his  physical  misery, 
but  by  the  stigma  which  his  visitation  has  cast  upon  him  in 
the  eyes  of  his  fellow  men.  His  pathetic  pleading  with  his 
friends  for  sympathy  (19.  19,  21f.)  is  especially  enlightening 
in  this  regard : 

"My  intimate  friends  abhor  me. 

Those  I  have  loved  have  turned  against  me. 

Have  pity,  have  pity  on  me,  O  my  friends. 

For  the  hand  of  God  hath  struck  me  1 

Why  do  ye  persecute  me  like  God, 

Why  can  ye  not  get  enough  of  feasting  on  my  body?" 

Equally  illuminating  is  the  wish  with  which  he  follows  up  this 
appeal : 

"  Oh,  let  my  words  be  written  down. 

Let  them  be  inscribed  in  a  book ; 

Oh,  let  them  be  written  in  lead  with  an  iron  pen, 

Or  be  cut  in  the  rock  to  be  preserved  forever !"  ^ 

He  is  unable  to  make  any  impression  on  his  own  age,  as  repre- 
sented by  his  cultured  friends  —  "  their  hearts,"  he  says,  "  God 
hath  closed  to  understanding."  ^  But  he  is  none  the  less  de- 
termined that  his  innocence  shall  be  recognized.  He  would, 
therefore,  have  his  words  preserved,  in  the  hope  that  some 
future,  more  spiritually  minded  age  may  bring  to  them  the 
understanding  they  deserve. 

(2)  The   Dialogues   are   primarily   concerned,   just   as   the 
Prologue  is,  with  the  question  whether  such  a  thing  as  dis- 

1  As  Deut.  5. 26,  Ps.  14. 7,  mi  jitten  expresses  a  wish,  but  not  a  wish  past 
realization. 
2 17.  4. 


30  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

interested  piety  or  love  of  virtue  for  virtue's  sake  exists.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  Dialogues  are  far  more  unequivocal  in 
their  answer  to  this  question  than  is  the  Prologue,  for  in  them 
Job  repeatedly  affirms  that  his  clear  conscience  is  the  one  link 
which  still  binds  him  to  his  Maker,  and  says,  in  effect,  that 
the  knowledge  of  his  virtuous  life  outbalances  his  shame,  and 
is  a  source  of  comfort,  even  of  happiness  to  him,  in  his  suffer- 
ing. The  detailed  proof  of  this  point  will  be  contained  in  the 
next  chapter  and  in  the  synopses  of  the  various  speeches  of 
Job ;  one  passage,  however,  may  be  cited  here  in  order  to  show 
the  prominence  given  this  thought  of  love  of  virtue  for  virtue's 
sake  even  in  such  speeches  as  chaps.  16-17.  Job,  after  describ- 
ing how  God  has  stricken  him  with  death,  although  his  hands 
have  committed  no  wrong  and  although  his  prayer  has  been 
genuine,  concludes: 

"Yet  the  righteous  man  will  cling  to  his  way, 

And  he  who  hath  pure  hands  will  gain  in  strength."  ^ 

(3)  As  to  "Satanic  agency,"  it  does  not  figure  in  the  Pro- 
logue any  more  than  in  the  Dialogues.  As  in  the  latter,  so 
in  the  former,  Job  considers  God  the  author  of  his  affliction,  as 
may  be  seen  from  his  expression  of  submission  to  God, 

"The  Lord  hath  given,  the  Lord  hath  taken  away, 
Praised  be  the  name  of  the  Lord !" 

and  from  his  answer  when  tempted  by  his  wife, 

"  Shall  we  accept  the  good  at  God's  hands,  and  not  also  the  evil  ?" 

In  the  mind  of  the  writer  of  the  story,  too,  it  is  in  reality  God, 
and  not  the  Satan,  who  inflicts  all  the  suffering  on  Job.  This 
is  shown  by  the  words  he  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Yahweh  when 
addressing  the  Satan  in  the  second  Scene  in  Heaven : 

"Thou  didst  incite  me  to  ruin  him  without  cause." 
1  See  16.  9,  12-17,  17.  8-9. 


THE  PROLOGUE  31      ' 

i 
9.    The  Figure  of  the  Satan  ! 

There  is  nothing  strange  or  contradictory  in  this.    On  the  ] 

contrary,  it  harmonizes  with  the  fact  that  the  Satan  as  repre-  I 

sented  in  the  scene  in  Heaven  is  essentially  different  from  the  ' 

Satan  met  with  in  the  later  Jewish  and  in  Christian  literature.  H 

Unlike  the  latter,  who,  cast  out  of  Heaven  for  his  rebellion  against  \ 

God,  has  set  up  an  independent  dominion,  and  who  for  the  pro-  1 

motion  of  his  evil  power  seeks  to  accomplish  men^s  spiritual  ' 
ruin  by  tempting  them  to  sin, /the  Satan  of  the  Prologue  oc-<^' 

cupies  rank  and  place  in  the  heavenly  entourage,  and  is  underl  *  / 

orders  from  God,  doing  only  what  God  has  empowered  him  to    '  : 

do.    Furthermore,  the  name  Satan  is  in  our  story,   unlike  j 

the'usage  in  I  Chron.  21.  1,^  as  yet  not  a  proper  name,  but,  as  | 

the  prefixed  article  shows,  an  appellative,  denoting  the  prov-  i 

ince  of  this  agent  of  God.    The  case  is  analogous  to  Zech.  j 

3.  If.    The  figure  of  the  Satan  in  Zechariah,  as  Marti  points  l 
out,  was  not  taken  over  from  the  popular  belief  of  the  time, 

but  is  an  invention  of  the  prophet.     It  is  a  piece  of  symbolism,  " ) 

a  personification  of  the  troubled  conscience  of  the  people  —  i 

troubled  because  their  unexpiated  guilt  must  militate  against  ; 

their  restoration .^    In  like  manner  the  Prelude  in  Heaven  in  i 

Job  is  an  invention  of  the  writer.     It  is  a  dramatic  expedient  i 

employed  to  bring  out  the  purpose  and  central  idea  of  the  j 

drama. '^    The  name  the  Satan  was  in  all  probability  suggested  j 

to  both  Zechariah  and  the  writer  of  Job  by  the  story,  Nu.  22.  22-  ' 

35,  of  the  angel  who  placed  himself  as  satan,  i.e.,  as  "  an  adver-  ] 

sary,"  in  Balaam's  way,  while  the  idea  of  a  heavenly  council  and  j 

^  I  Chron.  21. 1  is  the  first  evidence  of  Satan's  being  conceived  of  as  the  ; 

tempter  of  men.     In  the  older  version,  II  Sam.  24.  1,  it  is  important  to  ^ 
note,  David's  temptation  is  charged  to  Yahweh  (as  is  similarly  Pharaoh's 

obstinacy  in  Exod.  4.  21,  7.  3,  9.  12).  i 

2  See  Marti,  Zwei  Studien  zu  Sacharja  in  ThStK.  LXVI,  1   (1892),  ■ 
pp.  209-219,  225-236,  and  Das  Dodekapropheton,  p.  408. 

3  See  Chapter  II.  1 


32  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

entourage  was  furnished  to  our  author  by  popular  notions  of 
his  age  about  God  and  the  heavenly  beings  surrounding  Him. 
As  an  earlier  parallel  to  the  Scene  in  Heaven,  Mieah  ben  Jimlah's 
vision,  I  Ki.  22.  19-23,  may  be  mentioned.  It  must  be  added, 
however,  that  except  for  the  idea  of  the  heavenly  council  it- 
self, the  two  are  so  different  that  the  Scene  in  Heaven  cannot 
possibly  have  been  modeled  after  Micah's  description. 

The  view  just  expressed  about  Satan  and  the  Scene  in  Heaven 
receives  additional  support  from  the  verse,  "INIay  it  be  cursed 
by  those  skilled  in  cursing  the  day,  by  those  expert  in  arousing 
Leviathan,"  3.  8,  when  taken  in  conjunction  with  7.  12,  9.  13, 
26.  12  f.,  and  Is.  51.  9,  and  27.  1.  These  passages  show  that 
the  later  belief  in  Satan  developed  out  of  the  Assyrian-Baby- 
lonian Tiamat-myth,  probably  through  fusion  with  the  Per- 
sian Ahriman-myth ;  ^  and  further,  that  although  the  Tiamat- 
myth  was  known  in  Israel  as  early  as  the  time  of  Deutero- 
Isaiah,  the  name  Satan  had  as  yet  no  place  in  it  when  Job 
was  written,  nor  even  fifty  years  or  more  later,  when  the 
apocalypse  Isaiah  24-27  originated.  The  proper  names  by 
which  this  demon  of  darkness  and  evil  was  known  were  Rahab 
and  Leviathan^  and  its  appellatives  were  the  Dragon,  and  the 
fleeing  dragon  or  serpent,  and  also  the  coiled  serpent.  The 
name  Satan  was  not  applied  to  the  demon  until  later,  when  the 
import  of  the  Scene  in  Heaven  and  of  Zech.  3.  If.  was  no  longer 
understood,  and  what  was  meant  to  be  imaginative  and  poetic 
was  taken  literally.  The  first  evidence  of  the  fusion  of  the 
Tiamat-  with  the  Ahriman-myth  and  of  the  conquest  of 
Jewish  thought  by  Dualism  is  found  in  the  apocalypse  Isaiah 
24-27.  In  this  apocalypse,  though  Tiamat  is  not  yet  called 
Satan,  her  transformation  to  Ahriman-Satan  is  completed. 
This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  two  notions  characteristic 
of  the  transformation  are  met  with  in  the  apocalypse :  — 
(1)  that  the  conflict  between  the  god  of  light  and  the  god  of  dark- 
^  See  commentary  on  Job  3.  8. 


THE  PROLOGUE  33 

ness  would  reach  its  consummation  at  the  end  of  time  when  the 
latter  would  be  definitely  vanquished  by  the  former ;  and  (2)  that 
Tiamat-  or  Ahriman-Satan,  the  god  of  darkness  and  evil,  is  the 
cause  of  the  supreme  evil  of  the  world,  death,^  and  that  in  the 
realm  of  death  he  holds  rule.  The  second  notion  is  indirectly 
brought  out  by  the  fact  that  the  hope  expressed  in  26.  19-21 
for  the  resurrection  of  the  nation's  dead  ^  is  followed  with  the 
declaration : 

"In  that  day  God  will  punish  Leviathan,  the  fleeing  ser- 
pent, and  Leviathan,  the  coiled  serpent,  with  His  fierce,  great, 
and  mighty  sword,  and  He  will  kill  the  Dragon  in  the  sea/'  ^ 
With  this  apocalypse  a  retrogressive  movement  sets  in  in  the  re- 
ligious development  of  Israel.  The  consistent  monotheism  of 
the  prophets,  which  had  maintained  itself  for  four  centuries, 
and  which  produced  its  ripest  fruit  in  the  Book  of  Job,  yields 
to  Dualism.  The  new  doctrine  gained  entrance  into  Jewish 
religious  thought  hand  in  hand  with  Eschatology,^  the  central 
hope  of  which,  the  belief  in  a  resurrection  and  a  life  after 
death,  is  emphatically  denied  in  the  Book  of  Job./ 

1  Note  the  way  death  is  spoken  of  in  this  apocalypse  in  25.  7f. 

2  That  resurrection  in  the  Hteral  sense  is  meant  follows  also  from  25.  8, 
"He  will  annihilate  death  forever." 

3  The  original  domain  of  Tiamat  was  the  primeval  sea,  and  the  identi- 
fication of  the  two  explains  not  only  ''the  Dragon  in  the  sea,"  but  also 
"Leviathan,  the  coiled  serpent,"  the  latter  being  a  mythological  term 
for  the  ocean  which  surrounds  the  earth.  In  Is.  26,  21  the  original  text 
read  piha  for  damoeha,  as  may  safely  be  concluded  from  crbfia  of 
Gk.  Cod.  A.  The  verse,  "  Yahweh  will  come  forth  out  of  His  place  to  punish 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  for  their  guilt,  and  the  earth  will  open  its 
mouth  and  will  no  longer  cover  its  slain"  is  supplementary  to  v.  19,  in 
which  the  hope  is  expressed  for  the  resurrection  of  the  nation's  dead. 
It  says  that  when  God  appears  to  sit  in  judgment  over  the  world-powers, 
the  Jewish  martyrs  will  rise  from  their  graves  to  prefer  accusations  against 
their  slayers.  (C/.  my  article.  Blood-revenge  and  Burial  Rites  in  Ancient 
Israel,  in  JAOS.,  XXXIX  (1919),  p.  313  f.) 

*  On  the  rise  of  Eschatology  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Persian  period  see 
Date  of  the  Book  oj  Job,  pp.  76  ff. 


34  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

10.   Metaphorical  Language 

It  would  be  a  grave  mistake  to  infer  from  the  Scene  in  Heaven, 
as  has  often  been  done,  and  from  the  various  references  in  Job 
to  the  Tiamat-myth  and  its  transference  to  Yahweh,  that  the 
writer  of  Job  himself  entertained  this  primitive  notion.  One 
might  just  as  well  conclude  from  Faust  that  Goethe  shared  the 
belief  in  the  Devil,  and  the  belief  in  witches  and  witchcraft 
which  still  prevailed  in  his  days.  As  a  consistent  monotheist 
the  writer  of  Job  surpasses  even  Deutero-Isaiah,  for  while 
the  latter  brings  out  the  thought  that  the  Divine  cannot  be 
expressed  by  image  or  symbol,^  the  former  realizes  that  the 
Divme  or  Infinite  transcends  human  understanding.  Jle  sees 
the  fallacy  involved  in  all  man's  thinking  about  God,  since  by 
reason  of  his  finite  intelligence  man  is  unable  to  conceive  of 
God  otherwise  than  as  with  human  semblance,  and  as  possess- 
mg  human  attributes.  And  as  Deutero-Isaiah,  protesting 
against  Dualism,  declares  that  (jod  is  the  Creator  of  light  and 
darkness,  of  peace  and  evil ,2. so  the  writer  of  Job  affirms  his 
belief  that  God  is  the  sole  author  of  good  and  evil,  material 
and  spiritual  alike .^  If,  nevertheless,  both  ^Titers  employ 
mythological  language,  even  in  speaking  of  God,  they  doubtless 
use  it,  as  modern  writers  do,  for  the  poetic  effect,  metaphori- 
cal language,  which  lends  the  description  vividness  and  pic- 
turesqueness,  being  a  foremost  characteristic  of  poetic  style. 
This  explains  also  why  neither  Deutero-Isaiah  nor  the  jvriter 
of  Job  refrains  from  anthropomorphism  and  anthropopathism, 
notwithstanding  their  advanced  conception  of  God.  Nor  does 
the  writer  of  Job  hesitate  to  let  God  appear  in  the  storm-cloud 
and  hold  a  lengthy  discourse,  even  though,  in  line  with  his  con- 
ception of  God,  he  declares : 

1  Cf.  Is.  40.  18f .,  25.  '  Is.  45.  7. 

3C/.  Job  2.  10;  9.  24;  12.  9,  14-25;  19.  6;  21.  16  &  22.  18;  23.  2; 
27.2;  29.  2-5. 


THE  PROLOGUE  35 

If  He  passed  by  me,  I  should  not  perceive  Him, 
If  He  swept  past,  I  should  not  be  aware  of  Him. 
If  I  called  and  He  answered, 

I  should  not  believe  that  He  had  given  ear  unto  my  voice/' 
(9.11,16.) 

jIn  this  category  belongs  also  the  offering  of  sacrifices  attrib- 
uted to  Job  and  the  friends  in  the  Prologue  and  in  42.  7-9. 
The  writer,  employing  a  method  common  in  narrative,  repre- 
sents Job's  piety  and  the  friend's  penitence  in  a  concrete 
way,  which  makes  the  idea  clear  to  every  man  and  woman  of 
his  time.  This  deference  to  the  prevailing  custom  of  his  age 
does  not  indicate,  as  is  commonly  thought,  that  he  himself  be- 
lieved in  sacrifices,  any  more  than  his  description  of  God's 
appearance  in  the  storm  indicates  that  he  entertained  the 
primitive  notion  that  Yahweh  reveals  Himself  preeminently 
in  the  storm-cloud.  Similarly,  the  Book  of  Jonah,  which  is 
permeated  with  the  prophetic  spirit,  and  which  was  written 
with  the  view  to  propagating  prophetic  religion,  lets  the  foreign 
sailors  offer  sacrifices  to  Yahweh  as  an  expression  of  their  fear 
of  Him.i 

11.    The  Names  of  God  in  Job 

As  a  final  proof  that  the  Prologue  and  the  Dialogues  are  by 
different  authors,  it  has  been  maintained  that  in  the  Prologue 
Job  "naively"  uses  the  name  Yahweh,  while  the  writer  of  the 
Dialogues  carefully  avoids  His  name  in  the  mouths  of  Job 
and  his  friends,  presumably  because  "as  Edomites  and  Arabs 
they  do  not  know  this  name  of  God."  ^  This  statement  is, 
however,  far  from  correct.     In  the  first  place,  except  in  his 

^  C/.  Jonah  1.  16. 

'  Cf.  among  others  Duhm,  op.  cit.,  p.  VII ;  Barton,  op.  cit.,  p.  2 ;  Strahan, 
op.  cit.,  p.  23;  also  Budde,  op.  cit.,  pp.  XX  and  LX.  who  with  others 
considers  the  exceptions  as  mistakes  —  a  convenient  but  hardly  soimd 
explanation. 


36  THE  BOOK  OP  JOB  i 

expression  of  submission  to  God  over  his  bereavement,  Job         j 
does  not  use  Yahweh  in  the  Prologue,  but  Elohim.     Further-         ! 
more,  the  name  Yahweh  is  in  the  Dialogues  not  consistently         i 
avoided  in  the  mouth  of  Job,  but  is  used  by  him  in  two  in-  ^^^ 
stances,  12.  9  and  28.  28,^  both  of  which  passages  are  genuine-i^jX  I 
The  name  occurs  besides  in  the  formulary  verses  of  the  speeches 
of  God  (38.  1 ;  40.  1,  3,  6  ;  42.  1).     The  reason  that  the  witer,         \ 
as  a  rule,  uses  El,  Elohim,  Eloah,  Shaddai,  was^not  that  he  had 
a  keen  sense  for  anaclironism,  or  meant  to  represent  Job  as  i 
living  in  the  patriarchal  age,  but  that  he  doubtless  found  these  j 
abstract  names  more  in  harmony  with  his  advanced  God-    *     j 
idea  and  the  general  tenor  of  his  book.     The  exceptions  from         i 
the  rule  may  be  explained  as  follows:    (1)  "The  Lord  gave,         j 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  praised  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  '*         ] 
(L  21)  is  a  liturgical  formula  belonging,  in  all  probability,  to  the         j 
common  stock  of  Semitic  prayers.     I  find  proof  of  this  in  the         j 
fact  that  among  the  Bedouin  of  Arabia  Petraea  the  first  part        j 
of  the  formula,  with  but  a  slight  variation,  "His  Lord  gave        ] 
him,  his  Lord  has  taken  him  away,"  ^  is  up  to  this  day  recited 
immediately  after  the  death  of  a  person  by  the  next  of  kin. 
And  since  the  Bedouin  of  Arabia  Petraea  have  remained  free 
from  the  influence  of  both  Islam  and  Christianity,^  and  have 
preserved  many  primitive  notions  unchanged,  it  is  safe  to  say        . 
that  they  did  not  take  over  the  formula  from  Job,  either  directly        i 
or  indirectly.     (2)  In  like  manner,  the  use  of  Yahweh  in  "  the        | 
hand  of  the  Lord  worketh  this"  (12.  9)  is  explained  by  the        i 

i 

1  In  28.  28  ddonnj  is  scribalerr  or  iorjhwh,  which  is  the  reading  of  about  \ 
a  hundred  MSS.  Ken.                                                                                   .     ,  ! 

2  Rabbu  gabu,  rabbu  adahu;   the  words  open  with  melluh,  "cover  him"  j 
{i.e.  with  earth).     The  opening  phrase,  melluh,  to  my  mind,  points  to  the  j 
conclusion  that  in  this  Arabic  variant  the  original  form  of  the  Uturgical  j 
formula  has  been  preserved.     (The  formula  has  been  published  together 
with  other  litanies  by  A.  Musil,  Arabia  Petraea,  III,  p.  427.) 

3  See  on  this  point  Musil,  ib.,  p.  227f.,  and  Noldeke,  in  Gottingsche  \ 
Gelehrte  Anzeigen,  1908,  pp.  758ff.  | 


THE  PROLOGUE  37 

fact  that  Job  is  quoting  a  proverbial  phrase.^  (3)  As  to  the 
composite  jir'ath  jhwh  of  28.  28,  it  is  a  stereotyped  phrase,  oc- 
curring in  twenty-two  other  instances,  while  jir'ath  ^elohim  is 
found  only  three  times,^  and  jir'ath  'elohenu  ^  and  jir'ath  shaddaj 
each  only  once,  the  latter  in  Job  6.  14.  Since  in  the  days  of  our 
writer  this  plirase  was  constantly  in  the  mouth  of  the  people, 
just  as  our  word  religion  is  to-day,  it  was  but  natural  that  he 
should  have  followed  the  common  usage  in  this  particular 
case,  where  he  has  Job  express  the  central  truth  of  the  book. 
(4)  Finally,  as  to  the  use  of  the  name  Yahweh  in  the  Scene 
in  Heaven  and  in  the  formulary  verses  of  God's  revelation 
amidst  the  storm,  of  which  42.  7-9,  11  forms  the  original  con- 
clusion, it  requires  but  a  moment's  reflection  to  see  that,  in- 
asmuch as  both  scenes  are  based  on  primitive  notions  about 
Yahweh,  the  writer,  by  using  the  name  Yahweh,  showed  his 
fine  sense  of  what  was  fitting  to  the  situation. 

*  See  above,  p.  17. 

2  Gen.  20.  11,  II  Sam.  23.  3,  and  Neh.  5.  15. 

3  Neh.  5.  9. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  MEANING    OF  JOB 

The  customary  classification  of  the  Book  of  Job  as  "Wis- 
dom-Literature" is  a  mistake.  The  book  does  not  belong 
with  the  didactic  poetry  of  the  Bible ;  rather,  as  a  number  of 
scholars  have  pointed  out,  it  is  a  drama  ^  —  not,  to  be  sure,  a 
finished  drama  conforming  to  set  rules  of  structure  as  in  the 
Greek  and  the  modern  sense  of  the  term,  but  a  true  drama, 
none  the  less,  in  spirit  and  purpose.  The  irregularity  of  form 
which  it  shows,  espeoially  the  combination  of  the  epic  with  the 
dramatic  form,  has  many  parallels  in  the  earlier  and  cruder 
stages  of  dramatic  production.  It  is  quite  a  common  feature 
in  the  Miracle-plays  of  mediaeval  times,^  and  is  to  be  found  in 
the  English  drama  as  late  even  as  Shakespeare's  time.^  It 
occurs  also  in  the  ancient  Hindu  drama. ^ 

The  Job-drama  proper  is  presented  in  the  Dialogues.  True, 
the  Dialogues  abound  in  speculation  and  reflection,  and  convey 

*  The  first  to  recognize  it  as  such  was  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  ;■  Luther 
also  observed  that  it  was  essentially  dramatic:  ''es  ist  schier,  wie  man 
ein  Spiel  agiret."  Of  modern  scholars  that  hold  this  -^dew,  cf.  Ewald, 
op.  cit.,  pp.  15  £tnd  60;  Umbreit,  Das  Buck  Hiob,  p.  XXXIII;  Hupfeld 
in  Zeitschr.  f.  christhche  Wissenschaft,  1850,  No.  35ff.,  Frz.  Delitzsch, 
op.  cit.,  p.  15 ;  Zockler,  op.  cit.,  p.  7 ;  Klostermann,  op.  cit.,  p.  Ill ;  Strahan, 
op-,  cit.,  p.  22. 

*  Cf.  e.g.  Harrowing  of  Hell  (in  English  Miracle-plays  ed.  A.  W.  Pollard) 
and  Resurrection  (in  The  Towneley-plays  ed.  G.  England),  both  of  which 
have  a  prologue  in  narrative  form. 

3  Cf.  Old  Wives'  Tale  of  George  Peele,  the  opening  part  of  which  consists 
of  narration, 

*  Cf.  the'  melodrama  Gitagovinda,  the  various  parts  of  which  are  intro- 
duced with  narrative  verses  explaining  the  situation, 

38  .        '. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  39 

certain  moral  conclusions  of  the  author,  and  for  this  reason  they 
bear  on  the  surface  something  of  a  didactic  character.  They 
are,  however,  in  essential  respects  far  from  being  a  didactic 
poem.  They  do  not  set  forth  abstract  truth  or  morality  fer 
scy  as  do  for  instance  the  Dialogues  of  Plato,  or  as  does  the  book 
of  Ecclesiastes ;  instead,  they  unroll  before  our  eyes  the  con-  ^ 
flict  waged  in  the  soul  of  a  man  whom  we  feel  to  be  a  living, 
sentient  human  being  like  ourselves.  They  present  truth  and 
morality,  but  they  present  it  through  the  mind  and  life  of  the 
suffering  hero  Job.  They  are  essentially  a  drama  of  the  human 
soul. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Dialogues  the  center  of  interest  is 
shifted  from  the  outer  to  the  inner  world,  from  rapidly  moving 
events  to  concentrated  thought  and  reasoning ;  and  from  this 
point  on  we^find  ourselves  no  longer  concerned  with  the  suc- 
cessive strokes  of  misfortnnp  whiVh  have  befallen  the  hero, 
but  with  the  gtri]gg]p  wV»ir>h  fhpRP  rRlfl,7nitiRs;  produce  in  Ills 
jmind.  The  swiftness  of  movement  and  the  diversity  of  scene 
and  incident  which  mark  the  Prologue  give  way  to  psycho- 
logical effects,  to  emotional  climaxes  and  trenchant  reasoning, 
accompanied  withal  by  a  wealth  of  poetic  imagery  and  an 
intensely  dramatic  development  of  the  ideas,  which  take  the 
place  of  plot. 

Step  by  step  the  conflict  in  Job's  soul  is  revealed  to  us.^  We 
see  him  bewildered  at  God's  inexplicable  harshness,  Jyeighea 
down  bv  his  appalling  afllictions,  goaded  beyond  ^idurance 
by  the  coldness  and  suspicion  of  his  frignidgl^SQiiloSgriiS.^ 
rhn9;pn  fripnrk  of  his  spirit  of  whose  understa.nding  and  sym- 
path^_Jie  had  felt  confident.  We  see  him  passionately  re- 
pudiating  the  suspicion  cast  on  his  integrity  "by  the_undeserved 
calamities"wlth  which  God  has  visited  him,  proclaiming  his  inno- 
cence again  and  yet  again,  and  assertingthat  it  is  God's  treat- 
ment  of  him  which  requires  explanation,  not  his  own  thoughts 
or  conduct  —  these  are  open  and  above  reproacli.    We  see  him 


P. 


40  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

searching,  reasoning,  wrestling,  until  it  comes  to  him  that  in 
spite  of  all  appearances  he  is  not  really  cut  off  from  his  God. 
^^"^We  see  him  thus  through  the  sheer  force  of  his  own  moral  sense 
I      rising  to  a  larger  conception  of  God  and  of  His  rule  of  the  world, 
N   and  as  the  intolerance  of  the  friends  becomes  more  fanatic,  and 
"S     their  distrust  and  disaffection  more  pronounced,  finding  ever 
/     greater  comfort  in  the  reflection  that  in  spite  of  his  afflictions 
f       God  is  on  his  side,  and  in  the  conviction  that  grows  on  him 
V^that  He  will  one  day  vindicate  him  before  his  fellowmen.    We 
see  him,  finally,  transported  by  this  assurance,  rising  above 
his  fate  and  humbly  rejoicing  in  the  knowledge  of  his  one- 
ness with  God.     His  trials  are  still  with  him,  but  what  are 
physical   suffering   and  material  jossesjbo  him~wFo_Jias  sur- 
rendered  himself  to  the  unfathomabiewis3om~of  ^n_  infinite 

jGadX- 

This  unfolding  of  the  processes  going  on  in  the  mind  of  Job 
constitutes  the  sole  action  of  the  drama.  The  dramatic  in- 
cidents narrated  in  the  Prologue,  the  plot  laid  in  Heaven  and  its 
execution  on  earth,  are  but  the  means  employed  to  set  the  real 
drama  in  motion  and  to  illuminate  its  general  purpose,  which 
might  otherwise  be  dark.  (A  similar  dramatic  expedient  is 
God's  revelation  amidst  the  storm  in  the  concluding  act.) 
By  the  altercation  between  God  and  the  Satan  the  purpose 
and  tendency  are  at  once  disclosed.  Godjn  vouchingfor 
the  steadfastness  .j)f^ Job  defends,  in  effect,  the  jproposition 
that  there  is  such  a  thin^  as  disinterested  piety  in  man^^suS^ 
thin^  as  real,  unselfish  love  for  the  good  —  wjth  the  corollary 
thatoace  the  love  for  the  ^qod  is  firmly  implanted  in  the  human 
heart,  no  power  in  heaven  or  on  earth  can  avail  to  uproot  it ^ 
frhe  Satan  for  his  part  scoffs^t  the  Idea  of  disinterested  piety, 
or  any  real  nobility  of  soul  in  man,  and  claims  that  material 
considerations,  the  hope  of  reward  and  the  fear  of  punishment 
are  the  sole  motive  power  back  of  human  virtue^ 
The  contention  of  the  Satan  that  man  in  his  service  of  God 


^a: 


^ 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  41 

is  actuated  by  jtltgrior  motives  was  not  entirely  without  basis. 
The  Satan  had  the  theology  of  those  times  back  of  him  to  bear 
him  out.  The^current  theology  was  permeated  with  the  be- 
lief  that  the  good  are  re^^dgd^Triraapnal  pfos^per^^ 
wiVkfd  punished  with  fldvprgity.  If  a  man  succeeded  In^pleas- 
ing  God,  he  might  hope  to  be  prosperous ;  if  he  displeased  Him, 
he  must  expect  His  vengeance.  By  reason  of  this  belief  piety 
was  little  more  than  a  selfish  bartering  with  God,  as  the  Satan 
maintained.  It  was  the  piety  inspired  by  utilitarian  motives,  the 
Uo  ut  ^e^'worship  of  God  characteristic  of  all  primitive  religion. 
To  relegate  this  notion  of  piety  to  the  scrap-heap  of  an  out- 
worn theology,  and  to  establish  in  its  place  a  larger  concep- 
tion, more  particularly  to  show  that  there  is  a  service  of  God  o"^ 
not  prompted  by  hope  of  reward  or  fear  of  punishment,  but  ^ 
springing  eternal  from  the  divine  depths  of  man's  being,  was  ij^ 
the  author's  purpose  in  writing  the  Book  of  Job.  The  heavenly  \y^ 
scene  in  the  Prologue,  by  which  with  poetic  audacity  he  makes  -i 
God  his  ally  in  this  undertaking,  is  nothing  short  of  a  master- 
stroke. 

If  this  purpose  of  the  drama  is  kept  in  mind,  the  introduc-         i 
tion  of  the  friends  will  appear  in  the  proper  perspective.    The 
three  friends  are  subordinate  figures,  engaging  our  attention 
only  in  so  far  as  they  serve  to  provoke  the  mental  reactions  \;^ 
6f~the  hero.    Their  business  is  to  state  the  doctrine  which 
Job  is  meant  to  refute.     They  are  the  exponents  of  the  re- 
ligious views  of  their  age,  upholders  of  tradition,  and  as  such,  v^7 
all  three,  without  appreciable  difference,   tenaciously  defend      im 
the   doctrine   of   retributive   justice.     Disavowing   the   right 
to  independent  judgment,   they  insist  that  traditional   lore 
alone  can  lay  claim  to  authority ;  it  possesses  to  their  minds         \ 
the  divine  sanction  inasmuch  as  it  embodies  the  wisdom  im-         i 
parted  to  the  past  by  revelation,  while  human  judgment  or         j 
individual  opinion,  lacking  this  sanction,  is  of  necessity  fallible         ■ 
and  deceptive. 

T  n  ■  '■ 


42  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

'*  Inquire  of  the  bygone  ages,"  Bildad  admonishes, 
"  Turn  to  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers, 
For  we  are  but  of  yesterday  and  know  nothing ; 
But  they,  they  will  be  able  to  teach  thee. 
Will  be  able  to  draw  from  their  minds  words  of  authority." 
(8. 8-10.) 

And  Eliphaz  says : 

"  I  will  impart  knowledge  unto  thee  —  hear  me ! 
That  which  my  mind  hath  perceived  I  will  tell, 
That  which  the  wise  have  recorded  of  the  lore  received  from 
their  forefathers."     (15.  17-18.) 

For  Johj  however,  inherited  beliefs  do  not  possess  this  in- 
violate character.  He  assumes  the  right  to  test  the  validity 
of  the  fathers'  wisdom,  and  to  reject  what  does  not  coincide 
v>^ith  his  experience.  So  we  find  him  referring  contemptuously 
to  the  cherished  beliefs  of  his  age  as  "time-honored  notions," 
and  boldly  calling  them  "rubbish.^V 

This  fact,  that  the  friends  insisf'on  the  infallible  authority 
of  traditional  belief,  while  Job^  relies  on  his  own  judgment  as 
the  final  arbiter,  accounts  for  the  essential  "difference  between 
the  attitude  of  Job  and  that  of  his  friends  on  the  question 
of  how  to  explain  the  sudden  calamity  that  has  befallen  him. 
The  stricken  Job  is  bewildered  at  God's  visitation,  but  not  so 
the  friends.  They  are  not  for  a  moment  at  a  loss  how  to  ac- 
count for  his  afiliction.  For  them,  there  is  only  one  conclu- 
sion possible  in  accordance  with  the  doctrine  of  retributive 
justice.  Of  a  certainty,  he  has  offended  God!  Adversity 
in  Job's  day  was  the  sure  proof  of  guilt  —  this  must  be  re- 
membered. The  more  crushing  a  man's  calamity,  the  plainer 
it  was  that  he  was  suffering  the  Divine  wrath  incurred  by  his 
sins. 

J  1  See  13.  12. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  43 

This  is  the  light  in  which  the  friends  view  Job's  misfortunes, 
not  only  in  the  Dialogues,  but  also  in  the  Prologue.  In  the 
Prologue,  indeed,  they  express  their  verdict  more  effectively 
than  they  do  by  their  tirades  later  —  their  silence  is  far  moreV^ 
eloquent  than  words.  They  come  with  the  avowed  inten-^ 
tion  of  offering  consolation  to  Job,  but  when  they  behold  his 
"  most  terrible  affliction,"  when  they  find  him  smitten  with 
leprosy,  they  see  the  unmistakable  proof  of  God's  displeasure,^ 
and  instead  of  showing  sympathy,  "they  rend  their  garments," 
before  they  venture  into  his  presence,  "and  sprinkle  dust  over 
their  heads  by  casting  it  heavenward."  By  this  strange  per- 
formance they  mean  to  express,  not  grief  on  Job's  account, 
but  rather  solicitude  on  their  own ;  they  seek  to  ward  off  thev 
danger  of  becoming  affected  themselves  by  the  curse  that  has'' 
been  visited  upon  Job. 

That  this  is  the  significance  of  the  rites  performed  by  the 
friends  may  be  deduced  from  various  sources  which  supple- 
ment one  another,  notably  Acts  22.  22f.  These  verses  tell 
how,  when  Paul  by  his  own  confession  had  been  proved  guilty 
of  apostasy,  the  people,  demanding  that  he  be  put  to  death, 
"  cried,  and  rent  ^  their  garments,  and  threw  dust  into  the 
air."    The  customary  explanation  that  this  behavior  on  the 

*2.  13.  Hakke'eb  does  not  mean,  as  generally  translated,  "his  grief" 
(in  this  case  the  writer  would  have  said  keeho),  but  "the  affliction"  as  the 
Greek,  in  fact,  understood  the  phrase,  eihpwv  yap  ttjv  TXtjyijp  Seivjjv 
oSaav;  with  this  meaning  ke'eb  occurs  again,  Is.  17.  11.  The  words,  "for 
they  saw  that  the  affliction  was  very  terrible,"  have  reference,  not  to 
Job's  erstwhile  calamities,  but  to  the  affliction  they  have  beheld  with 
their  own  eyes,  his  affliction  with  leprosy,  that  is.  The  leper,  it  must  be 
remembered,  v/as  considered  "the  one  smitten  and  afflicted  by  God"  par 
excellence  (Is.  53.  4),  or  as  he  is  called  in  Arabic  "the  cursed  by  God" 
(mukatalatu  'l-lahi).  He  has,  like  Job,  to  sit  outside  the  city  or  village 
on  the  ash-heap  of  burned  animal-dung  (the  mazbala),  and  exhibit  himself 
as  an  accursed  one  and  call  out  "Unclean,  unclean  I"  so  as  to  warn  passers- 
by  not  to  approach  him. 

2  According  to  the  more  accurate  rendering  of  K.  Weizsacker,  Das 
Neue  Testament. 


44  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

part  of  the  people  was  merely  the  expression  of  wild  fanati- 
cism ^  is  far  afield.  The  people  were  in  reality  performing  the 
rites  customary  under  such  circumstances.  This  follows  from 
the  Talmudic  law  in  Mishna  Synhedrin  7.  5  pertaining  to  the 
related  case  of  blasphemy.  The  law  specifies  that  in  a  trial 
when  the  witnesses  testify  that  the  offense  was  committed, 
the  court  and  the  bystander  must  rend  their  garments.  The 
Gemara,  60  a,  significantly  adds  that  the  reason  that  the  wit- 
nesses are  not  required  to  do  likewise  is  that  they  naturally 
performed  these  rites  at  the  time  the  offense  happened.  On 
the  question,  why  these  rites  are  performed  both  by  those  that 
have  been  witnesses  of  the  act  of  apostasy  or  blasphemy  and 
by  the  friends  before  venturing  into  Job's  presence,  light  is 
shed  by  the  precept  attributed  to  ■Mohammed  by  Abdallah  b. 
Umar:  "The  prophet  said,  'Do  not  enter  these  places  that 
have  been  visited  vnth.  punishment,  except  you  weep.  If  you 
do  not  weep,  you  shall  not  enter  them  lest  that  which  has  be- 
fallen them  befall  you  also.' "  ^  J.  Pedersen  correctly  remarks 
in  explanation  :  "  The  places  visited  with  punishment  are  those 
upon  which  a  curse  rests.  If  any  person  were  to  enter  there, 
he  would  become  affected  by  the  curse.  He,  however,  who  puts 
himself  in  a  state  as  of  one  accursed  will  not  be  harmed  by  the 
curse,  having  made  himself  immune  against  it."  ^  It  is  safe 
to  deduce  that  the  rending  of  his  garments  by  the  person  wit- 
nessing an  act  of  blasphemy,  or  as  in  the  case  of  Paul's  apostasy, 
the  rending  of  his  garments  accompanied  by  crying  and  the 
throwing  of  dust  into  the  air,^  was  meant  to  serve  as  a  safeguard 
against  the  curse  which,  it  was  believed,  would  be  visited  on 
the  offender.^    This  deduction  is  further  established  by  the 

1  Cf.  e.g.,  J.  Holtzmann,  Hand-Commentar  z.  Neuen  Testament. 
-  Al-Buhari,  K.  al-salat,  no.  53. 
'  Der  Eid  bei  den  Semiten  (1914),  p.  102. 

*  By  "threw  dust  into  the  air"  is  really  meant  that,  as  in  Job  2.  12, 
they  cast  it  upwarrl  in  such  a  way  that  it  would  fall  on  their  heads. 

^  By  any  or  all  of  these  practices,  crying,  throwing  dust  over  his  head, 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  45 

fact  that  the  law  applying  to  blasphemy  in  Synhedrin  is  supple- 
mented in  Nedarim  babli  7  6  by  the  regulation  that  "he  who 
hears  his  fellowman  commit  blasphemy  must  put  him  under 
the  ban  else  he  himself  shall  be  put  under  the  ban." 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  the  real  meaning  of  Job's  re- 
proach to  his  friends,  "  When  ye  saw  the  terror,  ye  were  seized 
with  fear,"  (6.  21)  is  at  once  plain.  His  words  are  a  clear  ref- 
erence to  their  behavior  when  they  first  behold  Job's  terrible 
visitation.  They  are  shocked,  not  by  the  extent  of  his  misery 
or  by  the  sight  of  his  horrible  suffering,  but  by  the  certainty/^ 
that  he  is  under  a  curse.  They  fear  for  their  own  safety,  and 
seek  to  divert  God's  wrath  by  the  rites  which  they  perform. 
This  without  a  doubt  is  the  significance  of  the  friends'  demon- 
stration and  their  ensuing  silence.  Job  knows  this  well,  and  the 
knowledge  cuts  him  to  the  quick.  He  understands  the  friends.  ^ 
They  believe  him  guilty  and  accursed.  He  will  receive  noK^'' 
sympathy  from  them.  In  a  most  beautiful  passage.  Job  com^- 
pares  his  experience  with  his  friends,  who  on  their  arrival  deny 
him  the  sympathy  for  which  he  has  been  hoping,  to  the  disap- 
pointment of  the  Arabian  traders,  who  on  their  homeward 

stripping  off  or  tearing  his  garments,  the  person  meant  to  put  himself 
in  a  state  as  of  one  accursed.  There  is  ample  proof  of  this  throughout 
Semitic  literature,  as  Pedersen,  op.  cit,  pp.  97ff.,  has  shown.  Of  the  many 
examples  given  by  him  I  shall  cite  only  the  following :  "When  Amir  was 
unable  to  procure  blood-revenge  for  his  slain  brother  Amr,  he  stripped  off 
his  garment,  and  sprinkled  dust  upon  his  head,  like  a  man  who  has  been 
outlawed  or  put  under  the  ban,  and  cried,  Wo  unto  Amr ! "  (Ibn  Hisham, 
442,  8,  Al-Wakidi,  52).  Further,  as  Pedersen  points  out,  'Ho  throw  dust 
or  gravel  at  a  person  was"  among  the  Semites  "considered  an  especially 
effective  means  of  cursing  him."  To  Pedersen's  detailed  discussion  of  this 
point  it  need  only  be  added  that  the  explanation  of  this  custom  is  found 
in  the  common  Semitic  curse,  "Dust  in  thy  mouth! "  which  means  really 
May  the  dust  of  the  grave  cover  thy  face  —  as  frequently  elsewhere,  'afar 
is  elUpsis  for  'afar  maweth.  Proof  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  verse  which 
Hudba  recited  when,  after  he  had  carried  on  a  series  of  feuds,  he  gave 
himself  up  to  the  enemy-tribe :  "Has  not  the  raven  (the  bird  of  ill  omen) 
croaked  at  thee,  at  midday?  Shall  not,  therefore,  the  dust  of  the  grave 
be  in  thy  mouth?"     (Hamasa,  Scholion,  235, 1.  15.) 


46  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

journey  in  the  summer,  find  dried  up  the  rivers  which,  when 
they  set  out  on  their  expedition  in  the  fall,  were  full  and  over- 
flowing: 

"  My  brethren  have  disappointed  me  like  mountain  streams, 

Like  watercourses  that  pass  away. 

Once  turbid  from  icewater,  flooded  by  the  melting  snow, 

When  scorched  by  the  sun,  they  dwindle, 

WTien  it  groweth  warm,  they  disappear  from  their  place. 

The  paths  of  theu*  course  wind,  they  rise  into  the  void  and 

vanish. 
The  caravans  of  Teima  look  for  them,  the  traders  of  Sheba 

long  for  them. 
They  are  disappointed  because  they  trusted  in  them ; 
When  they  come  to  them,  they  are  confounded. 
So  have  ye  been  disappointing  to  me : 
When  ye  saw  the  terror,  ye  were  seized  with  fear."     (6. 15-21.) 

Against  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  the  friends'  belief  in  his 
guilt  and  their  silent  condemnation  Job's  heart  revolts,  and  after 
enduring  the  tension  for  several  days,  he  finally  gives  vent  to 
his  feelings  in  the  passionate  outburst  which  opens  the  poem  ^ : 

"  Perish  the  day  that  I  was  born, 

The  night  that  it  was  said,  *  It  is  a  boy !' 

May  that  day  be  dark ;  may  God  above  take  no  heed  of  it, 

May  no  light  shine  on  it."     (3.  3-4.) 

Job's  cursing  of  his  day  increases  in  dramatic  intensity  as  he 
proceeds.     Better  never  to  have  been  born  than  to  endure  such 

1  The  abruptness  of  this  opening  illustrates  a  peculiarity  of  Biblical  style, 
which  I  discussed  at  length  m  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  pp.  37,  91  £f.  In  the 
present  case,  however,  the  abruptness  is  not  really  so  pronounced  as  it 
seenxs  to  be  to  the  modem  reader.  At  the  time  the  book  was  written,  the 
purpose  of  the  friends'  rites  was  perfectly  clear  to  everybody.  No  explana- 
tion of  the  rites  was  necessary,  nor  of  the  bitter  indignation  they  excited  in 
Job. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  •    47 

misery.  Pleasant  and  alluring,  in  contrast,  is  death  —  death, 
he  continues,  extending  his  reflections  to  mankind  in  general, 
which  puts  an  end  to  weariness  and  drudgery,  which  wipes  out 
all  class-distinctions,  and  brings  rest  and  freedom  to  the  op- 
pressed.   He  concludes  his  reflections  with  the  bitter  question : 

"Why  is  light  given  to  the  wretched,  life  to  those  weary  of 

soul. 
Who  yearn  in  vain  for  death,  who  seek  it  more  eagerly  than 

hidden  treasure. 
Who  would  rejoice  beyond  measure,  would  exult  if  they  could 

find  the  grave  ? 
Why  is  light  given  to  a  man  whose  way  hath  become  dark 
Because  God  hath  hedged  him  in  ?  "     (3.  20-23.) 

By  this  question,  which  touches  on  the  destiny  of  man,  or 
what  in  the  author's  mind  was  equivalent  to  this,  the  dealings 
of  God  with  man,  we  get  a  hint  of  the  purpose  of  the  book  (as 
unfolded  in  the  Prologue)  in  its  larger  and  more  philosophic 
aspects.  The  question,  it  is  important  to  note,  shows  Job,  not 
rebelling  against  God,  but  mystified  by  the  inexplicableness  of 
His  ways  with  man,  and  casting  about  for  some  explanation.^^ 

The  friends,  however,  look  upon  Job's  outburst  as  little  short  ) 
of  blasphemy,  and  feel  confirmed  in  the  suspicions  they  have  1^  ^ 
entertained  of  him  from  the  start.  They  consider  his  reflec-  >  ^i 
tions  as  equivalent  to  a  denial  of  retributive  justice,  and  ac-  I 
cordingly,  deem  it  their  religious  duty  to  take  him  to  task.  V  i 
After  the  manner  of  fanatics  they,  Eliphaz  like  the  others,  heap  j 
upon  him  the  most  heartless  taunts  and  accusations.  One  after  , 
another,  they  expatiate  on  the  doctrine  of  retributive  justice,  ,  j 
showing  how  really  unassailable  (to  their  way  of  thinking)  it  /  • 
is.  They  concede,  in  accordance  with  the  view  of  their  day,  \ 
that  temporarily  the  righteous  may  suffer,  or  the  wicked  prosper, 

*  For  the  fuller  discus&ion  of  this  point  see  comment  on  3.  23.  ■ 


t 


48  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

but  in  the  end,  they  aver,  justice  will  surely  be  established  — 
the  righteous  will  be  vindicated,  the  wicked  will  meet  with  dis- 
aster. In  explanation  of  the  temporary  suffering  of  the  right- 
eous, they  advance  another  current  idea  of  their  age : 

"  Can  mortal  be  just  in  the  presence  of  God, 
Can  man  be  pure  before  his  Maker?"     (4.  17.)  ^ 

Eliphaz  asks  in  his  first  discourse,  and  again,  in  a  somewhat 

modified  form,  in  his  second.^    And  Bildad  in  his  concluding 

discourse  reverts  to  this  idea  as  if  it  were  an  absolute  truth.^ 

They  mean  to  say  that  man  is  necessarily  imperfect  in  the  sight 

J  of  God,  and  that  suffering  and  adversity  are  but  the  consequences 

rof  this  human  imperfection,  but  the  means  God  employs  to  tell 

men  that  they  have  —  whether  consciously  or  unconsciously  — 

fallen  into  sin.     In  having  Eliphaz  introduce  the  thought  as  a 

revelation,  the  writer  has  in  view  a  twofold  end  —  to  lend  color 

to  Eliphaz's  character,  which  he  is  portraying  at  the  moment, 

and  to  make  it  plain  that  the  thought  in  the  mind  of  his  con- 

[       temporaries  was  invested  with  the  authority  of  divine  truth. 

I    ;  According  to  the  views  of  those  days,  any  fundamental  belief 

V'*    could  be  supplemented  or  modified  only  by  new  revelation. 

^    It  is  Job's  task  in  the  book,  we  know,  to  show  the  fallacy  of 

//  the  friends'  views.     Inasmuch,  however,  as  up  to  the  time  of  his 

'  /   affliction  he  had  held  these  views  himself,  it  is  in  reality  his 

f  yOwn  search  after  the  truth  that  is  portrayed  in  the  dramatic 

i/  dialogue  between  him  and  his  friends.    The  first  part  of  the 

''  dialogue  centers  in  the  mental  struggle  which  Job  is  undergoing. 

/  The  creed  which  he  inherited  from  his  fathers  has  been  shaken, 

/  his  old  beliefs  are  vanishing  and  new  ideas  taking  shape  in  their 

*  Note  that  this  idea  occurs,  with  a  different  appHcation  and  differently 
expressed,  in  Ps.  143.  2,  a  psalm  which  is  in  no  wise  dependent  on  or  other- 
wise related  to  the  Book  of  Job  :  "Do  not  deal  with  Thy  servant  according 
to  the  standard  of  strict  justice,  for  in  Thy  sight  no  living  man  can  be 
righteous." 

2 15.  14.  3  25.  4. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  49 

place  ;fyet  his  faith  in  God  remains  firm.  Though  he  wrestles  ^ 
with,  even  challenges  God,  yet  he  turns  to  Him  as  to  a  refuge  ^ 
and  pleads  for  light  upon  his  darkened  path.^ 

Job  finds  himself  no  longer  able  to  answer  in  the  affirmative 
the  question  whether  the  infinite  God  directs  man's  destiny  in 
accordance  with  man's  idea  of  justice.  His  own  particular  case, 
as  well  as  careful  observation  of  life  in  general,  have  taught  him 
that  the  ills  of  na,ture  fall  indiscriminately  upon  the  good  and 
the  wicked,  that  no  trace  of  justice  is  to  be  found  in  the  distri- 
bution of  disease,  accident,  or  any  of  the  scourges  incidental 
to  human  life.  It  is  as  if  the  relentless  power  back  of  all  were 
but  mocking  the  innocent  victim: 

"  Innocent  am  I !  .  .  .    Yet  it  is  all  the  same ! 

Therefore  do  I  maintain, 

The  innocent  and  the  wicked  alike  doth  He  annihilate. 

If  the  scourge  slayeth  its  victims  suddenly. 

He  mocketh  at  the  despair  of  the  innocent."     (9.  21-23.) 

In  answer  to  the  view  expressed  by  the  friends  that  human 
suffering  is  justified  by  the  sinful  nature  of  man.  Job  urges  that 
since  God  chose  to  make  man  frail  and  unstable  of  nature,  it 
would  better  befit  Him  to  be  indulgent,  and  forgive  man's 
sins  than  to  be  ever  intent  on  punishing  him  for  his  errors,  and 
meting  out  vengeance  for  his  shortcomings : 

"  Doth  it  become  Thee  to  crush  me. 

And  to  despise  the  work  of  Thy  hands?"  he  exclaims. 

"  Life  and  love  Thou  hast  bestowed  upon  me. 

And  Thy  care  hath  guarded  my  spirit. 

Yet  this  Thou  hast  kept  concealed  in  Thy  heart, 

This,  I  know,  Thou  hast  had  in  mind : 

Should  I  sin  —  and  Thou  art  watching  me  for  thai  — 

^  For  the  detailed  analysis  on  which  my  interpretation  rests,  see  the 
Synopses  of  Job's  speeches,  171ff.,  179ff.,  190ff.,  206fif.,  231ff. 


i50  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Thou  would&t  not  absolve  me  from  my  guilt. 

If  I  incur  guilt,  woe  unto  me ! 

And  yet,  if  I  am  righteous,  I  may  not  lift  up  my  head  — 

I,  sated  with  ignominy  and  steeped  in  misery."     (10.  3, 12-15.) 

But  more  important  than  these  negative  thoughts  is  the 
positive  reasoning  that  goes  with  them.  A  dim  idea  of  the  im- 
measurable distance  between  the  finite  and  the  Infinite  dawns 
upon  Job's  mind,  and  he  perceives  the  essential  fallacy  involved 
in  all  man's  thinking  about  God ;  for  by  reason  of  his  finite 
intelligence,  man  is  unable  to  conceive  of  God  otherwise  than 
as  with  human  semblance,  and  as  possessing  human  attributes. 
As  yet.  Job  is  unable  to  grasp  the  full  import  of  this  truth,  as 
yet  he  does  not  see  it  in  its  relation  to  the  problem  of  man's 
destiny.  All  that  he  can  do  at  present  is  to  take  the  com- 
monly accepted  thought  that  man  cannot  be  just  in  the  sight 
of  God  and  present  it  in  a  new  light.  Unable  to  comprehend 
infinity,  man,  he  says,  cannot  but  be  confounded  at  the 
thought  of  the  infinite  majesty  of  God. 

"  Indeed  I  know  that  it  is  so : 

How  could  man  be  just  in  the  presence  of  God  ? 

If  God  consented  to  argue  with  him, 

Man  could  not  answer  Him  one  out  of  a  thousand  questions. 

Howsoever  wise  and  courageous. 

Who  could  defy  Him  and  escape  unscathed  — 

Him  who  shaketh  the  earth  in  its  foundations, 

So  that  the  pillars  thereof  totter ; 

Who  enjoineth  the  sun  not  to  rise 

And  sealeth  up  the  stars ; 

Who  alone  spreadeth  out  the  heavens. 

And  holdeth  dominion  over  the  billows  of  the  sea  ? 

If  He  passed  by  me,  I  should  not  perceive  Him. 

If  He  swept  past,  I  should  not  be  aware  of  Him.  < 

If  I  called  and  He  answered. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  51 

I  should  not  believe  that  He  had  given  ear  unto  my  voice. 
Even  if  my  cause  were  just,  I  could  not  respond, 
I  should  have  to  implore  the  mercy-^of  my  opponent.'* 
^- =:  ... — 1  (9.  2-8, 11,  15-16.) 

Quite  as  important  is  Job's  discovery  of  another  truth  while 
this  conflict  is  raging  in  his  heart.  It  is  borne  in  upon  him  that 
there  is  nothing  irreligious  about  revealing  one's  doubt  and 
pouring  out  one's  despair  to  God.  On  the  contrary,  the  fact 
that  he  can  speak  out  his  mind  to  Him  even  now  when  bowed 
down  under  his  mysterious  affliction,  proves  how  clear  is  his 
conscience,  and  how  really  close  he  is  to  God.  So  convinced 
is  Job  that  his  wrestling  with  God  is  a  sign,  not  of  estrange- 
ment, but  of  intimacy,  that  he  now  more  emphatically  than  ever 
asserts  his  innocence.  Though  he  realizes  that  his  life  has 
been  far  from  perfect,  that  time  and  again  he  has  of  necessity 
fallen  short  of  his  aspirations,  he  yet  claims  that,  as  far  as 
such  a  thing  is  humanly  possible,  he  has  lived  in  conformity 
with  God's  moral  law.  Come  what  may,  even  let  God,  in  His 
omnipotence,  kill  him,  he  will  still  aver  that  his  conduct  has 
been  beyond  reproach : 

"  If  He  killeth  me  —  well  and  good  I 

I  have  nothing  to  hope  for. 

Only  my  conduct  I  desire  to  justify  to  His  face. 

This  indeed  hath  been  my  support, 

For  the  godless  cannot  approach  Him. 

.......  • 

Behold  I  have  set  forth  a  just  case, 

I  know  that  I  am  guiltless. 

Who  dare  gainsay  me  ? 

Verily  then  I  should  have  to  die  in  silence."     (13. 15-16, 18-19.) 

The  consolation  that  Job  finds  in  the  knowledge  that  his  con- 
science  is  guiltless,  and  that  he  can  face  God  without  fear,  grows^ 


52  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

soon  into  something  far  more  positive.     His  earlier  be\\ilder- 

ment  vanishes,  the  feehng  that  God  is  bent  on  crushing  him 

I  without  reason  or  relenting  gives  way  to  an  ever  growing  con- 

fviction  that,  in  spite  of  what  men  would  have  him  believe,  God 

*  f\4s  really  on  his  side  and  ultimately  will  champion  his  cause 

*  i,  before  the  world.    As  this  assurance  reaches  its  height,  it  finds 

exultant  expression  in  the  famous  outburst : 

"  But  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth. 

And  that  at  last  He  will  appear  on  earth. 

Even  after  my  skin  hath  been  torn  from  my  flesh. 

Still  will  I  cherish  the  hope  that  I  shall  see  God. 

The  heart  in  my  bosom  pineth 

That  I  may  see  Him,  a  champion  in  my  behalf, 

That  my  eyes  may  see  Him,  and  not  as  an  enemy."     (19.  25-27.) 

Into  this  classic  passage  the  Occidental  Church,  following 

Origines,  has  read  a  belief  in  immortality  and  resurrection, 

an  interpretation  which  not  only  has  no  basis  in  the  passage 

J   itself,  but  which  is,  in  fact,  contradicted  by  the  rest  of  the 

/ :  dramatic  poem — by  Job's  emphatic  denial  of  a  life  after  death, 

;|  14.  llf.,  14,  and  by  the  fact  that  no  cognizance  of  such  a  hope  is 

4 1  taken  in  the  denouement.     It  is  for  vindication  in  his  lifetime, 

not  after  his  death,  that  Job  hopes.     Not  that  he  expects  to  be 

restored  to  health  and  prosperity  —  this  he  knows  cannot  be. 

He  expresses  the  hope  that  God  may  reveal  Himself  to  justify 

him  and  to  attest  to  his  innocence  before  all  the  world  —  a 

hope  which  is  fulfilled  in  the  denouement. 

All  along  Job  has  been  assailing,  more  or  less  indirectly,  the 
belief  in  retributive  justice.  Now  the  psychological  moment 
has  arrived  for  him  to  make  a  direct  attack.  Contrary  to  the 
view  which  the  friends  are  untiringly  reasserting,  that  sooner  or 
later  the  wicked  are  overtaken  by  disaster,  Job  points  out  that 
they  enjoy  undisturbed  prosperity  to  the  end.  Nay  more, 
he  tells  them,  the  world  is  ruled  by  tyrants,  and  there  is  no 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  53 

chance  of  redress  for  the  downtrodden  masses  from  their  power- 
ful oppressors.  Experience  of  life,  he  says  in  effect,  will  teach 
any  one  that  in  times  of  disaster  it  is  the  wicked  upper  classes 
that  are  spared,  it  is  they  who  manage  "  to  swim  on  the  top  " 
when  the  world  is  visited  by  appalling  calamity.  And  not  only 
do  they  retain  their  power  and  wealth  through  their  lifetime, 
they  are  buried  with  pomp  and  ceremony  at  the  end  —  their 
bier  is  followed  by  their  fellowmen,  and  even  their  tomb  is  cared 
for  long  after  they  are  dead.  Then  he  describes  the  wickedness 
of  every  sort  that  is  allowed  to  go  on  in  the  world,  the  fraud 
and  oppression,  the  murder  and  rapine ;  he  dwells  particularly 
on  the  cruel  exploitation  of  the  poor,'  "  Yet  God  taketh  no  um- 
brage." 

"  There  are  those  that  commit  land-robbery, 

That  steal  herds  with  the  shepherd, 

That  carry  off  the  donkey  of  the  orphan. 

And  seize  the  ox  of  the  widow. 

That  even  take  the  orphan  from  the  mother's  breast, 

And  attach  the  infant  of  the  poor. 

They  thrust  aside  the  needy. 

The  poor  of  the  land  must  hide. 

Lonely  as  wiki  asses  in  the  wilderness. 

They  go  forth  to  their  labor ; 

They  must  hunt  the  desert  for  sustenance. 

There  is  no  harvest  of  their  own  for  the  homeless. 

They  must  harvest  fields  that  are  not  theirs. 

The  vineyard  of  the  tjTant  they  must  pick  clean.  ♦ 

Naked  must  they  pass  the  night  for  lack  of  clothes ; 

They  have  no  covering  to  protect  them  from  the  cold. 

From  the  dowTipour  of  the  mountains  they  are  drenched, 

They  must  embrace  the  bare  rock  for  want  of  shelter. 

They  must  go  naked,  without  garments, 

Hungry,  they  must  carry  the  sheaves. 


V  54  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Shut  in  by  walls  they  must  press  the  oil, 

Thirsty,  they  must  tread  the  winepress. 

There  are  still  others  that  shun  the  daylight, 

That  know  not  its  path,  that  abide  not  in  its  way; 

In  the  dark  the  murderer  riseth,  killeth  the  poor  and  needy. 

And  the  thief  goeth  about  in  the  night, 

Breaketh  into  houses  under  cover  of  the  darkness. 


Out  of  the  city  come  the  groans  of  the  dying, 
And  the  cries  of  the  souls  of  the  slain,  calling  for  vengeance  — 
Yet  God  taketh  no  umbrage."     (24.  2-3,  9,  4-8,  10-11,  13-14, 

16,  12.) 

These  statements  of  Job  very  naturally  stir  the  friends  to 
J  wrath.  More  than  ever  convinced  that  their  suspicions  are 
r  well  founded  —  do  not  his  own  words  prove  him  a  sinner  ?  — 
they  throw  off  the  mask  they  have  been  wearing  and  give  free 
rein  to  their  fanaticism.  Eliphaz  wildly  charges  him  with 
"sins  without  number,"  he  specifies  that  he  has  unjustly  at- 
tached his  brother's  holdings  and  stripped  people  naked,  that 
he  has  withheld  his  bread  from  the  hungry,  sent  away  the  widow 
empty-handed,  and  crushed  the  arm  of  the  orphan.^ 

In  reply  to  these  baseless  charges.  Job  under  oath  asseverates 
his  innocence.  He  calls  God's  unceasing  punishment  down  upon 
his  head  if  his  conduct  has  been  otherwise  than  blameless,  if 
he  has  not  rigidly  lived  up  to  the  demands  of  morality,  if  his 
life  has  not  been  one  of  purity,  and  of  love  and  service  to  his 
fellowmen.  To  admit  that  he  has  sinned  would  be  to  do  vio- 
£-x^  lence  to  his  inmost  convictions  and  shatter  his  soul's  integrity. 
^  On  the  contrary,  with  greater  assurance  than  ever  he  declares 
that  he  treasures  the  knowledge  of  his  virtuous  life,  and  that  he 
will  cling  to  it  while  he  lives : 

1 22.  4-9. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  66 

"As  God  liveth  who  hath  robbed  me  of  my  right, 

The  Almighty,  who  hath  grieved  my  soul, 

As  long  as  my  spirit  is  within  me, 

The  breath  of  God  in  my  nostrils, 

Verily  my  lips  shall  not  speak  untruth, 

Nor  my  tongue  utter  falsehood. 

God  forbid  that  I  concede  that  ye  are  right  1 

Till  I  die,  I  will  not  part  with  my  integrity. 

My  righteousness  I  hold  fast,  and  will  not  let  it  go. 

My  heart  need  not  blame  any  of  my  days."     (27.  2-6.) 

To  grasp  the  full  import  of  these  verses  one  must  bear  in 
mind  the  view  that  prevailed  in  those  days  in  regard  to  sin 
and  piety.  For  the  friends,  as  for  the  world  in  general,  sin 
was  far  from  being  well  defined  in  the  abstract,  or  easy  of 
detection  in  particular  instances.  It  was  a  most  troublesome,  J 
elusive  thing.  A  man  could  never  be  sure  just  how  he  might  y^ 
have  offended  the  deity.  The  fear  of  having  provoked  the 
wrath  of  God  by  some  secret  sin  looms  up  large  in  the  literature 
of  those  times.  Besides,  there  was  always  the  danger  of  com- 
mitting sin  in  one's  thoughts.  To  permit  doubt  to  enter  one's 
mind,  to  question  or  deny  (as  Job  has  been  doing)  the  validity 
of  any  religious  belief  was  the  worst  kind  of  impiety,  equivalent 
to  renouncing  God.  But  for  Job  all  this  uncertainty  about  sin, 
in  fact,  the  whole  false  conception  of  sin  and  piety,  has  ceased 
to  exist.  The  only  sin  he  recognizes  is  disobedience  to  God's 
■  moral  law,  as  we  see  from  the  detailed  list  of  sins  in  the  oath  in 
\  which  he  asseverates  his  innocence.  Thus  Job  shows  himself 
the  spiritual  heir  of  the  prophets.  Like  them,  he  comes  to 
realize  that  the  relation  between  God  and  man  is  a  purely  moral 
relation,  that  righteousness  is  the  one  bond  which  car  bring 
man  close  to  God.  Accordingly,  he  avers  that  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  righteous  life,  the  knowledge  that  his  "heart  need 
not  blame  any  of  his  days,"  fills  him  with  strength  and  assurance. 


56  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

so  that  now  in  his  extreme  misery  he  can  face  his  fello^smen  with 
composure  and  turn  to  God  in  prayer.  Were  it  not  that  he 
knows  he  has  been  living  "in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty," 
that  he  has  kept  to  His  way  and  "has  not  swerved  from  it," 
he  would  be  completely  crushed  by  his  affliction : 

"  If  I  hid  transgressions,  as  men  are  wont  to  do, 
If  I  sought  to  conceal  iniquity  in  my  bosom. 
Truly  I  should  have  to  dread  the  great  crowd, 
The  contempt  of  the  people  would  terrify  me, 
I  should  have  to  he  silent,  I  could  not  venture  out  of  doors. 
And  what  should  I  do  when  God  appeareth, 
.When  He  visiteth  the  earth,  what  should  I  answer  Him  ? 
Verily,  the  fear  of  God  would  overcome  me, 
\^I  could  not  endure  the  apparition."     (31.  33-34,  14,  23.) 

Job's  tenacious  assurance  that  he  is  blameless,  that  his  life  is 
in  full  harmony  with  God's  behests,  mounts  in  the  closing  words 
of  his  speech  to  the  triumphant  hope  that  God  Himself  will 
appear  and  approve  his  innocence  : 

"  Would  that  He  might  hear  me  !  (to  reveal  Himself) 
I  stake  my  life  on  it  that  the  Almighty  will  hear  my  prayer. 
Then  verily  I  will  carry  upon  my  shoulders  the  bill  of  indictment 
That  my  opponent  hath  preferred  (i.e.  Eliphaz  in  his  preceding 

speech), 
I  will  adorn  myself  with  it  as  with  a  crown ; 
I  will  account  to  Him  for  every  one  of  my  steps, 
^    Like  a  prince  will  I  approach  Him. 

He  will  weigh  me  in  the  balance  of  righteousness, 
God  will  acknowledge  my  integrity."     (31.  35-37,  6.) 

It  is  interesting  to  mark  how  this  climax  confirms  the  corre- 
sponding climax  at  the  close  of  Job's  speech,  chap.  19,  and  how 
both  serve  as  an  index  at  once  to  the  mind  of  Job  and  the  design 
of  the  author. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  57 

To  summarize  the  situation— Job,  by  his  great  calamity  f 
having  found  all  his  previous  experience  reversed,  all  his  in-  I 
herited  notions  belied,  has  come  to  search  in  the  depths  of 
his  own  being  for  some  clue  that  might  lead  to  the  stabiliza- 
tion of  his  moral  world.  He  has  found  this  clue  in  his  own 
moral  consciousness,  and  from  the  uncertainty  and  confusion 
in  which  he  has  been  floundering,  following  the  collapse  of  his 
old  world,  he  now  emerges  clear  and  assured,  with  a  new  and 
surer  base  beneath  his  feet.  From  this  new  and  solid  base 
he  now  proceeds  to  find  the  solution  of  his  problem,  the  prob- 
lem of  God's  ways  with  man,  which  has  been  weighing  upon 
him  all  along.  He  considers  this  question  from  two  aspects : 
(1)  Isihere  any  retributive  justice  in  this  world?  (2)  What 
is  the  governing  principle  of  the  Divine  world  economy  ? 

(1)  We  find  that  Job  himself  believes  in  retributive  justice,. 
but  with  a  very  significant  difference.  He  believes  in  retribu-  '] 
tion  of  a  spiritual,  not  of  a  material,  nature.  We  have  just 
heard  him  declare  that  his  clear  conscience  is  his  priceless  good,  ^ 
in  that  it  gives  him  strength  to  endure  his  afiliction,  and  so  • 
fills  his  heart  with  comfort  and  joy,  that  he  can  at  all  times 
feel  assured  in  the  presence  of  God.  And  this  he  follows  up 
with  the  complementary  assertion  that  of  this  trust  and  assur- 
ance the  wicked  man  knows  nothing — for  him  the  omnipotent 
God  is  a  tormenting  presence,  threatening  him  with  destruction. 
By  this  twofold  declaration  Job  makes  it  plain  that  retribution 
is  no  longer  for  him  a  matter  of  outer  fortune  but  of  inner  expe- 
rience. The  wicked  man,  notwithstanding  his  material  pros- 
perity and  selfish  enjoyment  of  life,  pays  the  penalty  for  his 
wrong-doing  and  wrong-thinking  in  His  uneasy  conscience  and 
his  unsatisfied  soul :  J) 

"  What  fellowship  hath  he  with  God  on  high, 

What  communion  with  the  Almighty  in  the  heavens  above  ? 

Is  He  not  a  terror  for  the  wicked,  a  dread  for  evil-doers?  " 


58  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

The  righteous  man,  however,  whose  foot  "  hath  held  fast 
to  His  path,"  possesses  in  the  knowledge  of  his  fellowship 
with  God  a  source  of  Infinite  happiness,  which  remains  un- 
affected by  bodily  suffering  and  material  privation.  In  other 
words.  Job  declares,  as  did  Jeremiah  two  centuries  earlier, 
.that  not  material  prosperity  constitutes  man's  happiness^  but 
rather  the  strength  and  peace  of  soul  which  come  to  him 
who  lives  a  life  "of  righteousness  and  purity,  and  is  at  one  with 
God.  This  at-oneness  with  God,  Job  has  learned  through  his 
suffering,  is  the  only  thing  that  counts,  and  the  consciousness 
that  he  possesses  this  supreme  good  has  been  his  mainstay 
under  a  well-nigh  crushing  fate. 

(2)  As  to  the  second  side  of  the  question,  that  of  the  principle 
governing  the  Divine  world  economy.  Job  answers  that  God's 
ways  are  beyond  human  comprehension  —  the  Divine  world 
economy  must  forever  be  a  mystery.  Absolute  wisdom  is  not 
within  the  power  of  man  to  attain,  it  rests  with  God  alone : 

"  But  where  is  wisdom  to  be  found, 

And  where  is  the  home  of  knowledge  ? 

Man  doth  not  know  the  way  to  it. 

It  is  not  found  in  the  land  of  mortals. 

It  is  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  all  livmg  beings. 

God  understandeth  the  way  to  it, 

He  knoweth  its  home ; 

For  He  seeth  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

He  beholdeth  the  vastness  of  the  heavens."  (28. 12  f.,  21, 23-24.) 

Even  the  material  order  of  things  is  for  man  enshrouded  in 
impenetrable  mystery ;  how  much  more  then  must  the  laws  of 
the  spiritual  world  surpass  his  understanding  ?  With  his  finite 
vision,  man  can  never  succeed  in  "penetrating  the  limits  of  the 
Godhead:" 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB        ^,J^         59 

"Oh  that  I  might  know  how  to  find  Him, 
Oh  that  I  might  get  to  His  abode ! 
If  I  go  to  the  East,  He  is  not  there. 
To  the  West,  I  cannot  perceive  Him. 
If  I  seek  Him  in  the  North,  I  cannot  behold  Him, 
Nor  can  I  see  Him  by  turning  to  the  South."     (23.  3,  8-9.) 
"The  Almighty  we  cannot  find. 
He  that  is  almighty  in  power  and  supreme  in  justice, 
He  that  aboundeth  in  righteousness,  giveth  no  accounting." 

(37.  23.) 

And  his  description  of  the  mystery  in  which  the  visible  material 
world  is  veiled,  Job  concludes  with  the  following  words : 

"Lo,  these  wonders  are  but  the  outer  edges  of  His  ways; 

Only  a  whisper  of  Him  do  we  catch. 

Who  can  perceive  the  thunder  of  His  omnipotence  ?  "    (26. 14.) 

By  thus  emphasizing  the  immeasurable  distance  between  the 
finite  and  the  Infinite,  Job  implies  that  if  man  could  comprehend 
the  mysterious,  ultimate  relations  of  all  things,  if  he  could  see 
the  laws  governing  this  limitless  universe  in  the  light  of  infinity, 
then  those  things  which  by  reason  of  his  finite  point  of  view  must^ 
now  seem  to  him  unjust  would  appear  infinitely  just  and  wise. 

Though  from  the  metaphysical  viewpoint  Job  does  not  get 
beyond  this,  though  he  finds  no  real  solution  to  the  problem 
of  God's  ways  with  man,  and  the  question  of  human  suffering 
remains  a  mystery  to  him,  he  does,  nevertheless,  in  the  light  of 
his  own  spiritual  experience  reach  a  positive  conclusion,  a  con- 
clusion which  is  as  final  for  us  to-day  as  it  was  for  him  twenty-  . 
three  hundred  years  ago. 

The  abiding  trust  in  God  which  fills  his  heart  (and  to  which 
he  has  given  expression  times  without  number),  together  with 
his  new  realization  of  the  limitations  of  the  human  intellect, 
lead  him  to  the  recognition  that  there  is  a  divine  purpose  at  the 


60  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

root  of  man's  nature  and  destiny,  and  that  only  in  the  absolute 
surrender  to  this  divine  purpose  is  the  true  aim  of  human  ex- 
istence fulfilled.  Accordingly,  he  concludes  his  reflections  on 
the  immensity  of  God,  "which  mocketh  understanding,"  with 
the  pregnant  words :  ^ 

^  j  "The  fear  of  God,  that  is  wisdom, 
' ,  ^  And  to  shun  evil  is  understanding/' 

The  recognition  of  this  eternal  verity  by  Job  marks  the  highest 
of  the  many  high  points  of  the  book.  It  also  marks  the  end 
of  his  titanic  conflict.  Through  adversity  and  suft'ering,  through 
affliction  and  doubt,  amidst  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death, 
Job  has  wrestled  for  an  explanation  of  God's  ways  with  man, 
and  now  from  "the  stiU  small  voice"  in  his  heart  comes  the 
only  positive  answer  that  the  human  soul  may  ever  hope  to 
receive,  the  enunciation  of  the  moral  law. 

Only  by  the  full  quotation  of  the  passage  does  its  wonderful 
force  become  clear.  God  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  the  wisdom 
"  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  all  living  beings,"  created  the  universe 
and  fixed  its  laws.  He  prescribed  the  course  for  the  wind  and 
the  thunderbolt,  for  every  force  in  nature,  but  to  man  for  his 
guidance  He  gave  the  moral  law.  In  other  words.  Job  says 
that  the  moral  law  inherent  in  man,  with  its  absolute  claim 
to  obedience  and  its  peremptory  call  to  duty,  is  the  one  reality 
that  constitutes  human  wisdom  —  it  is  the  voice  of  God. 

"When  He  fixed  the  force  of  the  wind. 

And  measured  the  volume  of  the  water. 

When  He  made  the  law  for  the  rain. 

And  laid  down  the  course  for  the  thunderbolt, 

Then  did  He  see  it  (wisdom)  and  reveal  it. 

Then  did  He  enact  it,  yea,  He  plumbed  its  depths. 

And  concerning  man  He  said : 

'The  fear  of  God,  that  is  wisdom. 

And  to  shun  evil  is  understanding.'"     (28.  25-28.) 


■■^f' 


V 


/A^     Y  THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  61 

\  Thus  Job's  suffering  Js  transmuted  into  spiritual  triumph. 
Dramatic  evidence  of  the  transfiguration  wrought  in  him  is 
given  in  the  closing  scene  of  the  drama,  when  in  true  humility 
of  hea^t  hefalls^  down  in  worship  of  God,  who  has  revealed 
jiimself  to  him  amidst  the  storm,  and  seaTsTiis  act  of  worship  by 
asking  God's  forgiveness  for  tlieTnendswho  haA^e'inaHghed^Mm 
God's  vindication  of  Job  amidst  the  storm,  which  follows  the 
spiritual  climax  of  Job's  discovery  of  the  moral  law,  constitutes, 
so  to  speak,  the  grand  climax  of  the  drama.  As  a  dramatic 
expedient, Txod'^s  revelation  amidstThe  storm^ranks  next  to  the 
Scene  in  Heaven,  and  contributes  not  a  little  to  the  poetic 
grandeur  of  the  poem.  Due  largely  to  radical  changes  which  the 
speeches  of  God  suffered  in  the  original,  the  purport  of  God's 
revelation  is  generally  misunderstood.  Fortunately,  the  Greek 
version  has  preserved  the  most  important  passages,  which,  in  the 
Hebrew,  were  tampered  with  by  later  editors.  To  understand 
the  object  of  God's  revelation  as  indicated  by  the  plan  and  pur- 
pose of  the  book,  one  must  bear  in  mind  that  Job's  fervid  prayer, 
which  he  utters  at  the  various  heights  of  the  dramatic  action, 
is  that  God  may  reveal  Himself  to  vindicate  him  and  to  attest 
to  his  innocence  before  all  the  world.  So,  when  God  does 
appear  in  the  end,  it  is  not  in  order  to  reprove  Job,  to  humble 
him  in  the  dust,  but  rather  in  order  to  comply  with  Job's  prayer, 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  of  his  claim  that  he  has  always 
lived  in  harmony  with  '^  God's  holy  behests."  This  is  borne 
out,  first  of  all,  by  the  original  opening  of  the  speech  of  God  as 
preserved  in  the  Greek  version.  This  original  opening  contains 
no  disapproval  of  Job,  but  rather  of  the  friends.  Moreover, 
in  its  general  tenor,  it  is  strikingly  in  accord  with  Job's  censure 
and  warning  to  the  friends  expressed  in  Chap.  13 : 

"Do  ye  mean  to  defend  falsehood  in  behalf  of  God, 
Or  to  uphold  untruth  for  His  sake  ? 
Will  ye  be  partial  to  Him  ? 


62  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Will  ye  defend  God  ? 

Will  it  be  well  with  you  when  He  seareheth  you  out? 

Or  do  ye  think  that  ye  could  deceive  Him  as  ye  can  man  ? 

He  shall  judge  you  severely 

If  ye  secretly  show  Him  partiality. 

Will  ye  not  be  terrified  when  He  appeareth  ? 

Will  ye  not  then  be  seized  with  fear  of  Him?"     (vv.  7-11.) 

As  if  in  fulfillment  of  this  prediction  of  Job,  God  now  from 
the  stormcloud  opens  his  speech  with  the  following  words  of 
censure  to  the  friends : 

"  Who  is  it  that  seeketh  to  conceal  his  design  from  me, 

By  holding  back  his  words  in  his  mind  ? 

Doth  he  think  that  he  can  hide  them  from  me?"     (Gk.  38.  2.) 

The  genuineness  of  this  opening  is  beyond  suspicion.  Such 
agreement  with  an  essential  and  characteristic  passage  of  the 
book,  with  the  very  inner  sense  of  that  passage,  can  be  the  work 
only  of  the  original  writer.  Nothing  so  inherently  fitting  could 
have  been  produced  by  an  interpolator.^ 

Still  more  conclusive  than  this  opening  is  another  verse  of 
the  speeches  of  God,  found  in  the  Greek  version.  Turning  to 
Job,  after  He  has  finished  His  ironical  address  to  the  friends 
on  the  mysteries  of  the  universe,  God  says : 

"  Despise  not  my  chastisement  1 

Dost  thou  think  I  would  have  revealed  myself  to  thee, 

Were  it  not  that  thou  mightst  be  proven  righteous !" 

(Gk.  40.  8.) 

*  It  should  be  added  that  in  the  one  example  known  of  an  interpolation 
expressing  the  writer's  idea,  the  interpolation  is  limited  to  two  words 
which  are  of  no  relevancy  beyond  the  sentence  in  which  they  occur.  It 
is  found  in  an  oration  of  Demosthenes  and  reads :  "Ye  will  never  accede 
to  this  "  ws  avSpes  iXevdepoi  kol  evr)OeL<s  "as  liberal  and  educated  people." 
By  a  papyrus  discovered  in  recent  years,  written  several  centuries  before 
any  of  the  other  manuscripts,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  original  text 
read  d>s  avSpes  *A6rjvaloL  ovt£s. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  63 

In  this  verse,  which  is  replaced  in  the  Hebrew  by  a  verse  of 
the  very  opposite  tenor/  we  have  direct  proof  that  the  vindica- 
tion of  Job  is  the  real  purpose  of  God's  apparition  amidst  the ; 
storm.  This  verse  clears  up  so  much  that  has  been  dark, 
and  reconciles  so  much  that  has  been  at  odds,  that  its  im- 
portance in  the  present  stage  of  Job-criticism  can  hardly  be 
overstated.  It  will  be  seen  that  God's  appearance  forms  the 
true  culmination  toward  which  the  entire  action  moves.  As 
soon  as  38.  2  and  40.  8  are  substituted  for  the  interpolated 
verses,  the  unity  of  action  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired. 

With  His  ironical  questions  regarding  the  laws  of  nature 
and  the  conduct  of  the  universe,  God  takes  up  the  thread  where 
Job  left  off,  and  brings  into  greater  emphasis  the  thought  enun-     . 
ciated  by  Job,  that  absolute  wisdom  is  found  with  God  alone, 
and  that  man  by  reason  of  his  finite  intelligence  cannot  fathom    .^ 
the  infinite  wisdom  of  God,  or  comprehend  the  mystery  of 
His  rule.    God's  questions  are  addressed  to  the  friends.    Their 
original  opening  shows  this  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt. 
They  would  indeed  have  no  raison  d'etre  if  addressed  to  Job, 
since  their  burden  is  precisely  that  of  Job's  concluding  speech 
which  immediately  precedes  them,  whereas,  directed  to  the 
friends,  who  claim  to  have  a  full  understanding  of  God's  plan,    y 
\\  they  are  most  appropriate.    The  questions  are  calculated  to  /K 
show  the  puny  friends  the  limitations  of  their  mental  horizon, 
the  mockery  of  their  belief  that  God's  rule  of  the  world  could  be 
reduced  to  such  a  simple  formula  as  that  of  material  retribution. 
This  part  of  the  speech  of  God  is  brought  to  an  effective  close 
with  40.  9-14.2    Qo(i^  whose  address  to  the  friends  so  far  has 
been  a  withering  rebuke  to  them  for  their  arrogance  and  cock- 

»  "Wilt  thou  annul  my  judgment? 

Wilt  thou  condemn  me,  that  thou  mayest  be  justified?" 

'  40.  9-14,  as  both  the  interrogative  form  and  the  contents  of  40.  9  indi- 
cate, must  originally  have  followed  immediately  after  the  series  of  ques- 
tions addressed  to  the  friends  in  chs.  38-39. 


64  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

sureness,  now  bids  them  put  on  the  mantle  of  divine  majesty 
and  act  the  part  of  God  (as  they  conceive  it),  pour  out  their 
wrath  on  the  proud  and  mighty,  and  send  the  wicked  straight- 
way to  their  doom.  By  this  piece  of  irony,  even  more  than  by 
His  questions  about  the  mysterious  laws  governing  the  universe, 
He  gives  the  friends  to  understand  that  the  inscrutable  prin- 
Vciples  of  His  method  of  dealing  with  the  world  and  human 
/"affairs  far  transcend  the  naive  principle  of  material  retribution 
on  which  the  system  they  conceive  of  is  based. 

No  argument  against  this  view  can  be  advanced  from  the  formulary 
verse,  38.  1,  "And  God  answered  Job  amidst  the  storm  and  said,"  for 
this  verse  in  the  form  in  wliich  we  have  it,  originated  in  all  probability 
with  a  later  editor.  Note  in  tho^  first  place  the  recurrence  of  the 
verse  in  40.  6,  where  Job  himself  is  addressed.  It  is  safe  to  assume 
that  the  highly  dramatic  apparition  of  God  must  originally  have  been 
more  fittingly  introduced  than  by  the  mere  words,  "And  God  an- 
swered .  .  .  amidst  the  storm  and  said;"  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  have  a  direct  indication  of  such  an  introduction  in  the  definite 
article  of  seara ;  storm,  being  neither  a  name  of  matter  or  species, 
nor  forming  a  comparison,  could  in  Hebrew  be  used  with  the  definite 
article  only  if  it  had  already  been  mentioned.  The  fact  that  the 
questions  are  apparently  addressed  to  one  person,  rather  than  to  several, 
can  in  no  wise  invalidate  oin  conclusions.  It  may  be  noted  that  when 
pronouncing  His  verdict  against  the  friends  God  again  does  not  ad- 
dress the  three  conjointly,  but  Eliphaz,  as  the  eldest  of  the  three.  38.  21 
points  to  the  assumption  that  here  too  it  is  EUphaz  who  is  addressed  : 
"Thou  knowest  it,  dost  thou  not?  For  of  yore  thou  wast  born,  and 
the  number  of  thy  years  is  many."  The  verse  is  clearly  an  ironical 
reference  to  Ehphaz'  claim  (15.  10)  to  superior  wisdom  by  reason  of 
his  advanced  age.  The  explanation  seems  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  in  cases 
of  revelation  or  apparition  it  was  the  almost  invariable  custom  to  repre- 
sent the  Spirit  or  Deity  as  addressing  only  one  person  at  a  time. 

A  final  proof  that  the  object  of  God's  revelation  is  the  vin- 
dication of  Job  is  furnished  by  the  couvdemnation  of  the  friends 
in  42.  7-9,  which  together  with  its  sequel,  v.  11,  constitutes  the 
original  conclusion  at  once  of  the  revelation-scene  and  of  the 
book: 


\ 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  65 

"After  Job  ^  had  spoken  all  these  words,  Yahweh  said  to  Eli- 
phaz,  '  My  wrath  is  roused  against  thee  and  thy  friends,  because 
ye  have  not  spoken  truthfully  ^  to  me  as  hath  my  servant  Job. 
Now,  take  seven  bullocks  and  seven  rams  and  go  to  my  servant 
Job  and  offer  up  burnt  offerings  for  yourselves,  and  my  servant 
Job  shall  pray  for  you.  Verily,  it  is  because  I  respect  him  that 
I  brand  you  not  as  infamous  for  not  having  spoken  truthfully  ^ 
to  me  like  my  servant  Job.'  " 

This  judgment  pronounced  by  God  against  the  friends  for 
their  intellectual  dishonesty  confirms  more  pointedly  even 
than  do  His  opening  words  the_accusati  made  by  Job.  It 
will  be  remembered  how  in  cliap.  13  Job  refers  to  the  friends'  de- 
fense of  the  retributive  justice  theory  as  a  defense  of  falsehood 
in  behalf  of  God,  an  upholding  of  untruth  for  His  sake,  and 
how  he  stamps  their  defense  as  hypocrisy,  for  which  they 
will  be  severely  judged  by  God ;  and  how  again  in  chap.  27  he 
declares  that  his  lips  would  "speak  untruth,"  his  "tongue 
utter  falsehood,"  were  he  to  admit  that  his  affliction  is  war- 
ranted by  any  personal  guilt.  It  is  obvious  that,  like  the 
Prologue,  this  pronauncement  of  judgment  by  God  against 
the  friends  must  be  an  integral  part  of  the  author's  design  — 
without  it  God's  vindication  of  Job  would  be  less  complete.  It 
adds  materially  to  the  unity  and  dramatic  effect  of  the  whole. 

Following  this  complete  vindication  of  his  integrity,  Job's 
act  of  worship  hardly  requires  explanation  : 

"  I  know  that  Thou  canst  do  all  things, 
That  nothing  is  impossible  with  Thee. 
I  have  heard  of  Thee  by  report, 

*  This  original  reading  (instead  of  "After  Yahweh  had  spoken  ...  to 
Job")  has  been  preserved  in  both  the  Sahidic  and  the  Bohairic  translation 
of  the  Greek  version. 

*  As  to  this  meaning  of  nekhona,  which  forms  here  an  adverbial  accusa- 
tive, c/.  Ps.  5.10,  "No  truthfulness  is  in  their  mouth,"  et  alit. 


66  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

But  now  my  eye  kath  beheld  Thee, 

Therefore,  though  I  am  wasting  away, 

I  am  comforted  for  my  lot  of  dust  and  ashes."     (42.  2,  5-6.) 

With  a  true  sense  of  humility,  and  in  his  heart  "the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding,"  Job  confesses  that,  however  in- 
explicable to  him  His  dealings  needs  must  be,  he  now  knows 
God  more  profoundly  than  ever ;  that  though  humbled  by  Him 
in  the  very  dust,  yet  tlirough  sorrow  and  suffering  he  has  come 
to  know  Him  as  the  God  of  morality  and  boundless  love.  From 
the  fullness  of  his  heart  he  even  prays  to  God  to  forgive  the 
friends  their  insincerity. 

\  In  the  words  of  the  sage,  "The  true  hero  is  he  who  conquers 
.all  selfish  desire" — Job  has  won  the  victory.  By  humbly// 
searching  after  the  truth,  by  ridding  himself  of  all  pride  and  ' 
egoism,  he  has  lost  his  old  self,  and  in  so  doing  he  has  found 
his  real  self,  and  attained  the  true  vision  of  life..  And  in  this 
transport  of  self-reaHzation,  he  embraces  those  who  in  their 
blind  fanaticism  have  vied  with  one  another  in  accusing  him. 
^  This  is  the  end  —  the  end  of  the  conflict  and  the  end  of  the 
book ;  jind  what  a  fitting  end  it  is  !  It  \sdll  be  remembered  that 
it  was  on  the  thesis  of  the  invincible  power  of  the  good  that  God 
had  staked  His  honor  in  the  opening  scene  in  Heaven,  and  now, 
by  this  croTvming  victory  of  Job's,  His  thesis  is  \indicated,  His 
confidence  fulfilled.  It  is  not  merely  a  victory  of  Job's;  we 
are  made  to  feel  it  is  God's  victory  —  the  triumph  of  the  Eternal 
goodness  tliat  rules  the  world. 

Unfortunately,  a  later  editor  with  little  understanding  for 
such  spiritual  conflict  as  is  delineated  in  the  book,  and  with  a 
strong  bias  for  some  of  the  doctrines  which  Job  was  at  such 
pains  to  refute,  completely  mistook  the  spirit  and  the  purpose 
of  this  ending.  He  found  it  irreconcilable  with  his  own  belief 
in  retributive  justice.  So  to  supply  what  he  considered  a  de- 
ficiency, he  added  the  present  conclusion  of  the  book,  in  which 


THE  MEANING   OF  JOB                        67  | 

Job  is  restored  to  health  and  prosperity  and  lives  happily  with 
his  family  forever  after.     We  must  forget  this  happy  ending, 

and  remember  Job  as  the  real  author  leaves  him  —  still  afflicted  ^ 
in  body,  but  serene  of  soul,  still  shaken  in  his  worldly  fortunes, 
but  issuing  victorious  from  his  moral  encounters,  and  enjoying 

in  consequence  the  approval  of  God.  * 

The  Happy  Ending,  42.10,  12-17,  a  Later  Addition  : 

It  has  heretofore  remained  unnoticed  that  4^2. 10  with  its  ■ 

original  continuation,  vv.  12-17,  and  v.  11  exclude  each  other;  ■ 

yet  it  requires  only  a  moment's  reflection  to  see  that  this  is  so.  i 

Verse  11  states,  "Thereupon,  all  his  brethren  and  sisters  and  '■ 

all  his  former  friends  came  to  Job  and  ate  bread  with  him  in  his  | 

house,  and  condoled  with  him  and  comforted  him  for  all  the  \ 
affliction  thaFTjod  had  brought  upon'Tmn,  and  they  gave  him 

each  a  piece  of  money  and  a  golden  earring."     If  Job,  however,  i 

as  V.  10  tells,  had  really  been  restored  to  health  and  prosper-  ' 

ity,  such  condolence  would  have  been  absurd.     His  relatives  ! 

and  friends  would  not  have  condoled  with  Job  and  comforted  j 
him,  but  would  have  come  to  congratulate  him  and  rejoice  with  i^^n* 
him  over  his  restoration  to  health  and  prosperity.     It  is  self-  ;' 

evident  that  of  these  two  endings  that  of  yv.  10,  12-17  must  be  \ 
an  addition  by  a  later  editor,  and  that  v.  11  lis  the  real  and  orig-  '  ^  j 
inal  ending,  for  not  only  is  this  ending  the  only  one  consistent  /  j 
with  the  contents  of  the  Dialogues,  but  it  also  fits  in  well  with     ^    . 

the  Prologue,  from  which  it  receives  meaning  and  point.     The  j 

friends,  the  Prologue  tells  us,  when  they  saw  Job  smitten  with  I 

leprosy,  sternly  withheld  their  sympathy,  but  now  that  he  has  ■ 
been  vindicated  by  God,  and  they  themselves  denounced,  they 
seek  to  make  amends  for  the  wrong  they  have  done  him.'^'^/^ 

"They  condole  with  him  and  comfort  him,"  and  seal  their  rec-  ^ 

onciliation  with  him  by  holding  a  peace-feast  in  his  house  and  " 

by  presenting  him  with  gifts.    Similarly,  Gen.  31.  54  tells  how  ^ 


68  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Laban  and  Jacob  celebrated  their  reconciliation  with  a  peace- 
feast,  and  for  our  purposes  it  is  important  to  note  that  the 
parallel  version,  v.  46,  refers,  like  our  verse  in  Job,  to  the  meal 
only,  making  no  mention  of  the  animal-slaughter.  This  cus- 
tom of  sealing  the  reconciliation  of  two  enemies  with  a  peace- 
feast  in  the  house  of  the  one  that  has  been  ^^Tonged  prevails 
to  the  present  day  among  the  Arabs  in  Syria.^  Not  only 
the  three  friends,  but  all  Job's  friends  and  relatives  make 
amends  in  like  manner.  All  along  they  "have  abhorred  him 
and  held  aloof  from  him,  and  even  forgotten  him,"  ^  just  as 
to  this  day,  in  the  Orient,  everyone  refrains  as  a  matter  of 
course,  even  the  nearest  relatives,  from  visiting  the  leper  on  his 
ash-heap. 

As  to  the  fact  that  the  ending  as  we  have  it  in  v.  11  is  the 
,  only  one  consistent  with  the  Dialogues,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  object  of  the  writer  of  Job  was  to  disprove  the  age-long 
belief  in  retributive  justice,  and  to  show  instead  that  there  was , 
such  a  thing  as  disinterested  worship  of  God.     By  a  happy/ 
ending  of  the  drama  he  would  have  defeated  his  purpose  and 
acknowledged  the  very  principle  he  had  been  at  such  pains  to 
refute.     Furthermore,    throughout  the   poem   Job   refuses  to 
entertain  the  hope  of  recovery  held  out  to  him  by  the  friends, 
if  he  but  repent,  insisting  that  he  is  fatally  stricken,  and  that  all 
hope  is  gone  from  him.     Tlie  difference  of  opinion  between  Job 
and  the  friends  on  this  point  proceeds  from  a  radical  difference 
in  their  religious  views.     The  friends  believe  in  miracles ;  for 
them  God  manifests  His  omnipotence  preeminently  by  suspend- 
ing the  course  of  Nature,  whether  in  arresting  the  sun  in  its 
L   downward  course,  or  in  reviving  the  dead  or  dying.     For  Job 
I  the  laws  of  Nature  are  immutable ;  for  him  God's  omnipotence 
\  manifests  itself  in  His  control  of  the  universe  in  accordance 

^  See  S.  I.  Curtiss,   Ursemitische   Religion  des  Heutigen  Orients  (1903), 
p.  244f. 

« 19.13f .,  19. 


THE  MEANING  OF  JOB  69 

with  these  eternal  laws.^  Particularly  instructive  in  this  respect 
is  17.  12-16  with  the  parts  originally  belonging  to  it.  For  a 
moment  Job's  unshaken  faith  in  God  has  triumphed  over  the 
grim  reality,  and  he  prays : 

"Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood, 
Let  there  be  no  place  for  my  outcry !" 

But  no  sooner  has  he  uttered  his  prayer  than  he  realizes  that 
he  has  been  crying  for  the  impossible.  Referring  to  the  friends' 
blindness  in  holding  out  hope  to  him,  he  says : 

"Night  they  pronounce  day, 

In  the  face  of  darkness,  they  declare  light  to  be  nigh;'* 

then  he  proceeds  to  describe  how  nothing  is  left  him  but  the 
grave. 
Still  more  conclusive  is  42.  6 : 

"Therefore,  though  I  am  wasting  away, 

I  am  comforted  for  my  lot  of  dust  and  ashes." 

This  utterance  shows  that  even  after  God's  appearing  and  vin-  / 
dicating  him,  Job  has  not  changed  his  view  about  his  fate,  but  i 
considers  his  disease  incurable.    It  follows  from  what  has  beenj 
remarked  ab^uTtEe^real  ending  of  the  book  that  the  namej 
Epilogue  cannot  be  applied  to  it.  1 

» That  this  was  the  writer's  view  of  God's  control  of  the  universe  is 
brought  out  most  convincingly  by  the  speech  of  God. 


CHAPTER  III 

1.     The  Date  of  the  Book  of  Job 

No  unanimity  prevails  on  the  question  of  the  date  of  the 
Book  of  Job.  Opinions  are  divided  as  to  whether  the  book 
was  written  during  the  last  period  of  preexilic  times,  or  during 
the  exile,  or  in  postexilic  times. ^  Further,  those  who  hold  that 
it  is  a  product  of  postexilic  times  disagree  in  their  turn  as  to 
the  exact  date.  Some  place  it  in  the  early  Persian  period 
(about  500  B.C.),  while  others  rightly  consider  the  later  Persian 
period  (about  400  B.C.)  the  most  probable  date.  A  few  would 
place  it  as  late  as  the  third  or  even  the  second  century  B.C. 

This  diversity  of  opinion  is  due  to  the  fact  that  all  direct  evi- 
dence about  the  time  of  origin  is  lacking.  The  book  has  no  title- 
verse  informing  us  about  the  name" and  time  of  the  writer; 
neither  does  it  contain  any  direct  information  on  these  matters 
in  the  body  of  the  book.  Nor  has  it  such  a  patent  historical 
background  as  we  find  e.g.  in  Isaiah  40-55  —  a  feature  which 
makes  the  date  of  this  latter  work  certain  beyond  doubt  even 
though  it  was  transmitted  as  the  writings  of  Isaiah  b.  Amos. 
These  remarks  about  the  lack  of  direct  data  bearing  on  the  time 
of  origin  of  the  book  would  be  subject  to  modification,  if  from 
the  mention  of  Job  in  Ezek.  14.  14-20  it  followed  that  Ezekiel 
must  have  been  familiar  with  the  Book  of  Job.  But  this  men- 
tion, as  we  have  seen,  does  not  show  that  Ezekiel  had  any 
knowledge  of  it,  in  whole  or  in  part.^ 

^  The  older  view  which  considered  Job  a  product  of  the  age  of  Solomon 
may  be  ignored  as  being  mitenable  in  the  light  of  our  present  knowledge 
of  the  historico-religious  development  of  Israel. 

^  See  pp.  8fif. 

70 


DATE  71       ! 

i 

For  determining  the  date  of  the  Book  of  Job  we  have  to  de-       • 
pend  altogether  on  indirect  evidence,  particularly  on  the  pro-  i/y 
gress  of  religious  thought  as  illustrated  in  the  book.     For  ascer-       ; 
tairiirig  this  progress  the  problem  and  purpose  of  the  book  are, 
of  chief  importance.    The  problem  treated  in  Job,  how  thej 
suffering  of  the  righteous  is  to  be  reconciled  with  the  postulate] 
of  a  just  God,  presupposes  the  belief  in  individual  retribution,  | 
^^^&  belief  which  was  the  direct  outcome  of  literary  prophecy.     In 
ancient,  preprophetic  Israel  religion  was  inseparably  bound  up 
with  the   material   and  political   conditions  of  the   people's 
existence  and  was  primarily  the  concern  of  the  community ;  its^jj 
chief  object  was  not  the  promotion  of  individual  well-being  but  U 
the  furtherance  of   the  common  weal.    This  aim  and  thisf 
province  of  religion  were  determined  by  the  principle  of  tribal  ^ 
solidarity  and  collective  responsibility  which   held   sway   in 
those  times.     The  whole  conception  of  religion  and  society 
was  shot  through  and  through  with  this  principle.     It  led 
to  the  effacement  of   the  individual  by  merging  him  in  the 
community,  and  made  all  members  of  the  community  alike  , 
responsible  for  the  sins  committed  in  its  midst,  whether  in  ' 
the  present  or  in  the  past.^    As  the  current  adage  quoted  by 
Jeremiah  expressed  it,  "The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes, 
and  the  teeth  of  the  children  are  set  on  edge."    With  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  literary  prophets,  however,  all  this  was  changed. 
Through  their  basic  conception  of  the  Divine  immanence,  the 
presence  of  God  in  the  human   heart,  religion  became  disso- 
ciated from  the  confines  of  nation  and  country ;  it  ceased  to  be 
a  constituent  part  of  the  politico-social  order  into  which  a  man 
was  born  and  became  preeminently  the  concern  of  the  individ- 
ual.    For  the  prophets,  religion  meant  individual  righteous- 
ness.   They  laid  emphasis  on  the  absolute  justice  of  God  and. 
on  the  necessity  of  right  living  for  man.    But  while,  by  reason 

1  Cf.  Exod.  34.  7,  Nu.  14. 18 ;  16.  21f . ;  Josh.  7. 10-15,  and  22. 20 ;  i&., 
V.  17 ;  II  Sam.  21. 1-9 ;  24. 1-17. 


72  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

of  this  conception  of  things,  the  behef  in  individual  retribution 
was  tacitly  comprised  in  literary  prophecy  from  the  very  be- 

i;  ginning,  it  was  not  definitely  formulated  until  Jeremiah,  in  refu- 
|,tation  of  the  popular  adage,  declared,  "Every  man  shall  die 
,  r  for  his  own  sin ;  he  that  eateth  sour  grapes,  his  teeth  will  be 

h  jset  on  edge."  ^ 

'  1  Thus  we  get  the  time  of.  Jeremiah  as  the  terminus  a  quo  for 
vthe  origin  of  the  Book  of  Job.  Prior  to  this  time  the  problem 
with  which  the  book  is  concerned  could  not  well  have  risen. 
The  answer  to  the  question,  why  the  righteous  man  must  suffer, 
would  have  been,  because  his  destiny  is  bound  up  with  that 
of  the  race.  Being  accountable  for  the  sin  committed  by  any 
of  his  people,  he  needs  must  suffer  the  consequences  of  their 
guilt,  however  innocent  he  may  be  himself. 

Before  attempting  to  fix  the  date  of  Job  more  exactly,  it  may 
be  well  to  inquire  into  the  terminus  ad  quern.  The  book  must 
have  been  wTitten  prior  to  the  belief  in  a  hereafter  or  a  world 
to  come,  for  as  soon  as  this  belief  became  generally  accepted, 
the  problem  raised  in  Job  ceased  to  exist.  Later  Judaism  (as 
'  well  as  Christianity)  answered  the  question,  how  the  suffering 
of  the  righteous  and  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  are  to  be  rec- 
onciled with  the  idea  of  a  just  God,  in  the  words  of  Mishna  Ahot: 
"Better  one  hour  of  bliss  in  the  life  to  come  than  the  whole 
(present  life-time.  Prepare  thyself  in  the  ante-chamber,  that 
thou  mayest  enter  the  palace."  In  other  words,  man's  life  on 
earth  is  preparatory  to  the  life  everlasting;  the  true  reward 
and  punishment  are  meted  out,  not  in  this  world,  but  in  the 
world  to  come  —  there  the  righteous  will  enjoy  everlasting  bliss 
and  the  wicked  suffer  eternal  damnation.^  That  the  accept- 
ance of  this  belief  leaves  no  room  for  the  problem  of  suffering 
is  confirmed  by  the  book  itself.  Job  declares  if  there  were  such 
a  thing  as  life  after  death,  he  would  bear  his  present  lot  with 

1  C/.  M.  Buttenwieser,  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  pp.  318-322,  146ff.,  156. 

2  C/.  also  Is.  25. 8,  and  Dan.  12.  2f. 


It 


DATE  73      i 

J  \ 

^"^  patience  (14.  14).  Though  we  do  not  know  when  the  beUef  | 
in  the  world  to  come  became  generally  accepted,  it  is  positively  i 
certain  that  at  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  and  even  earlier  it  j 
was  a  tenet  of  faith,  permeating  the  religious  life  and  thought  i 
of  the  Jews.  Accordingly  we  get  200  B.C.  as  the  ierminm^ad^j  j 
quern  for  the  origin  of  the  Book  of  Job.  .    '  j 

As  to  the  fixing  of  the  date  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  \ 
time-limit,  it  must  be  admitted  that  if  for  the^ecision  only  the  • 
problem  presented  by  the  book  came  in  question.  Job  might  j 
well  have  been  written  in  the  days  of  Jeremiah.  As  a  matter  | 
of  fact,  Jeremiah  himself  was  the  first  to  touch  upon  the  ! 
problem  of  suffering.^  But  the  purpose  and  the  atmospherei  i 
of  the  book,  both  of  which  disclose  the  veneration  in  which  the  ' 
view  of  individual  retribution  was  held  by  the  writer's  ages', 

<£xclude  such  a  date.  The  view  must  have  held  sway  for  gent  H 
erations,  for  not  only  was  it  regarded  as  a  fundamental  belief^ 
the  denial  of  which  branded  a  man  as  an  infidel,  but  it  wai| 
considered  as  an  integral  part  of  the  traditional  lore  handec 
down  from  the  remote  past.^  So  ingrained  was  the  belief  in  th( 
minds  of  the  people  in  our  writer's  day,  that  they  naturally 
drew  their  conclusions  regarding  a  man's  past  life  from  his  pres- 
ent circumstances,  particularly  from  his  adverse  circumstances. 
Sudden  adversity  was  always  a  sure  proof  of  guilt.  The 
more  crushing  the  man's  calamity,  the  greater  his  need  for 
human  sympathy,  the  more  convinced  were  the  people  that 
God's  punishment  had  been  visited  upon  him  for  some  great  sin. 
It  was  to  protest  against  this  view  of  individual  retribution, 

>  and  to  arouse  pity  for  human  suffering,  that  the  book  was 
written. 

In  the  age  of  Jeremiah,  however,  the  view  of  individual  ret- 
ribution had  as  yet  taken  no  hold  on  the  minds  of  the  masses. 
This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Jeremiah  does  not  look  for  the 

» Jer.  12. 1-3  a,  5-6.     Cf.  Buttenwieser,  op.  cit.,  pp.  llQfif. 
2  Cf.  8.  8-12,  15.  17-24,  and  also  20.  4f . 


74  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

view  to  be  accepted  by  his  own  age,  but  states  that  it  will  ob- 
tain recognition  in  the  regenerated  Israel  of  the  future.^  Besides, 
Jeremiah  does  not  carry  the  view  to  the  extreme  conclusion  that 
suffering  is  the  result  of  sin.  On  the  contrary,  he  recognizes 
that  the  righteous  may  suffer  innocently;  this  was  the  kernel 
of  the  problem  of  suffering  for  him.  It  was  Ezekiel,  at  the 
time  of  the  exile,  who  gave  the  view  the  turn  which  led  to  its 
final  development  as  exemplified  by  the  friends  in  the  Book  of 
Job.  Ezekiel  expounds  the  theory  that  there  is  no  suffering 
without  sin,  that  suffering  follows  sin,  or  more  specifically, 
that  reward  and  punishment  follow  directly  on  the  heels  of 
righteous  and  unrighteous  living  respectively  (Ezek.  18  and 
33.  12-20).  He  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  if  punishment  is 
visited  upon  a  guilty  community  the  righteous  will  be  spared 
(ib.  14.  13-20).  He  makes  it  appear,  indeed,  that  this  is  what 
happened  when  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  (ib.  9.  4-6).  The 
preexilic  prophets,  however,  know  of  no  such  discrimination. 
While  they  view  the  catastrophe  as  just  retribution  for  the 
people's  sins,  they  describe  it  as  involving  the  guilty  and  inno- 
cent alike.  As  to  Deuteronomy  and  the  Deuteronomistic 
redactors  of  Judges  and  Kings,  who  interpret  Israel's  past 
rigidly  from  the  prophetic  point  of  view,  that  calamities  are 
the  just  retribution  for  the  people's  apostasy,  they  think  only 
of  the  people  as  a  whole.  All  appeals  to  the  individual  are  made 
in  the  interest  of  the  nation,  the  welfare  of  which  depends  on 
the  godly  life  of  the  individual  members.  The  sins  of  Jeroboam 
and  Ahab,  or  of  any  other  Israelitish  and  Judaean  king,  are 
viewed  altogether  from  the  aspect  of  their  disastrous  conse- 
quences for  the  nation.     It  was  not  until  the  Law  of  Holi- 

^  From  this  it  follows  that  the  story  of  Abraham's  intercession  for  Sodom 
(Gen.  18.  23-33)  is  of  no  help  to  us  in  fixing  more  exactly  the  date  of  Job, 
for  though  the  writer  considers  it  incompatible  with  the  justice  of  God 
that  the  innocent  and  guilty  alike  be  destroyed  for  the  wickedness  of  the 
city,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  this  view  was  generally  entertained  by 
his  age. 


DATE  75 

ness  and  the  Priestly  Code  that  the  individualistic  point  of 
view,  on  which  Ezekiel  laid  such  stress,  came  into  prominence,  jj 
and  that  the  law-giver  addressed  himself  to  the  individual 
as  such. 

But  although  Ezekiel  ascribed  the  sanction  of  divine  author- 
ity to  the  belief  in  a  rigidly  individual  retribution,  declaring 
the  old  view  of  collective  retribution  null  and  void,  the  new 
belief  did  not  take  root  in  the  minds  of  the  people  during  the 
exile.  This  may  be  seen  from  the  picture  Deutero-Isaiah  gives 
of  the  spiritual  blindness  still  prevailing  among  the  people 
towards  the  close  of  the  exile.  The  masses  fail  as  yet  to  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  their  destruction.  Dazed  and  despondent, 
they  took  a  view  of  the  situation  not  essentially  different  from 
that  taken  by  Ezekiel's  contemporaries  (Ezek.  37.  11).^  Nor 
did  the  belief  in  individual  retribution  take  firm  root  during 
the  first  three  decades  of  postexilic  times,  for  from  Zechariah, 
who  wrote  between  520  to  518  B.C.,  we  know  that  the  people 
in  his  days  still  viewed  the  ancient  guilt,  for  which  the  nation 
had  suffered  destruction  and  exile,  as  unexpiated  and  as  mili- 
tating against  them  with  Yahweh.^  And  since  in  the  days  of 
the  writer  of  Job  the  belief  in  a  rigidly  individual  retribution 
was  not  only  the  dominant  dogma,  determining  the  trend  of 
the  life  and  thought  of  the  age,  but  was  believed  always  to  have 
been  an  accepted  tenet  of  faith,  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation,  it  follows  that,  at  the  very  least,  a  century  mu^ 
have  intervened  between  the  time  of  Zechariah  and  that  of  out 
writer.  In  this  way  we  ;'^et  400  B.C.  as  the  approximate  data 
of  the  Book  of  Job. 
This  conclusion  is  further  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  far  from 

1  Cf.  Is.  40.  27,  49.  14,  42.  19-25,  43.  8,  46.  12  (in  the  last  verse  read, 
with  Gk.,  'obede  leb).  The  real  import  of  Ezek.  37.  11  and  also  of  the  refer- 
ences from  Deutero-Isaiah  is  shown  by  the  related  passages  from  pre- 
exiUc  prophetic  writings,  which  I  discussed  in  The  Prophets  of  Israel, 
p.  113  f. 

» Cf.  above,  p.  31. 


76  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

ia  belief  in  a  hereafter  being  expressed  in  the  book,  such  a  be- 
lief is  emphatically  denied  in  7.  9-10: 

"  As  a  cloud  that  passeth  by  vanisheth, 
So  he  that  goeth  down  to  Sheol  ascendeth  no  more. 
Never  again  will  he  return  to  his  home, 
j  Neither  will  his  place  behold  him  any  more  ;" 

and  still  more  emphatically  in  14.  10-12,  14 : 

"  If  a  man  dieth,  no  vital  spark  is  left ; 

If  a  mortal  passeth  away,  where  is  there  a  trace  of  him  ? 

As  the  water  disappeareth  from  the  sea. 

And  the  river  drieth  up  and  vanisheth. 

So  when  a  man  dieth,  he  doth  not  rise  again. 

Even  should  the  heavens  be  no  more. 

He  will  not  awake,  nor  stir  from  his  sleep. 

When  a  man  dieth,  doth  he  come  to  life  again  ? 

All  the  days  of  my  bondage  I  would  wait 

In  patience  until  the  change  in  my  lot  came." 

Job's  emphatic  denial  of  a  resurrection  shows  that  such  a  hope 
must  have  found  entrance  and  been  gaining  ground  among  the 
Jewish  people.  It  must  have  been  in  the  incipient  stage  of  a 
belief  in  a  hereafter  that  the  book  was  written.  It  cannot  be 
argued  that  a  denial  of  resurrection  on  the  part  of  Job  might 
have  been  possible  even  though  the  belief  had  found  acceptance, 
since  as  late  as  the  first  century  B.C.,  and  even  later,  we  find  the 
Sadokites  not  believing  in  resurrection.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  not  only  is  the  belief  emphatically  denied  by  Job,  but 
that  there  is  no  reference  to  it  b}^  the  friends.     If  it  had  had  an 

.  established  place  in  the  religious  thought  of  the  times,  the  friends,    . 

II  as  the  chosen  exponents  of  the  views  of  their  age,  would  have  // 
been  bound  to  introduce  it  into  the  argumentation.  // 

Though  we  have  no  direct  means  of  ascertaining  the  exact 
date  of  the  belief  in  its  incipiency,  we  do  know  that  at  the 


DATE  77 

time  the  apocalypse  Isaiah  24-27  was  written  the  behef  in 
a  resurrection  had  an  established  place  in  Jewish  religious 
thought.  This  belief  and  the  notion  of  Tiamat-Satan's  anni- 
hilation, which  is  bound  up  with  it/  can  in  no  case  have  found 
entrance  until  after  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  About 
the  religious  development  down  to  the  conclusion  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah's  activity  (ab.  430  B.C.)  we  are  fairly  well  informed. 
The  sources  of  this  period  are  Haggai,  Zechariah  1-8,  Malachi, 
various  parts  of  Trito-Isaiah,  the  Priestly  Code,  Chronicles, 
and  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  In  none  of  these  writings  is  there 
any  trace  of  a  belief  in  a  resurrection  or  in  Tiamat-Satan's 
annihilation  at  the  end  of  time.  Their  silence  on  these  points 
is  conclusive,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Trito-Isaiah  and  Malachi 
deal  respectively  with  the  hope  of  the  future  glory  of  Zion  and 
the  nation  and  with  Yahweh's  future  appearance  for  judgment 
in  behalf  of  His  righteous  people.  In  contrast  to  this  first  period 
of  postexilic  times,  we  are  but  scantily  informed  on  both  the 
religious  development  and  the  politico-social  conditions  of  the 
following  two  centuries,  i.e.  on  the  conditions  during  the  reign 
of  Artaxerxes  II  Mnemon  (404-358  B.C.)  and  of  Artaxerxes  III 
Ochus  (358-336  b.c),  and  during  the  first  century  and  a  half 
of  the  Hellenistic  period.  About  the  conditions  and  influences 
which  gave  rise  in  Jewish  religious  thought  to  the  belief  in 
resurrection  and  the  other  eschatological  notions  bound  up 
with  it,  nothing  definite  can  be  stated,  except  that  these  notions 
cannot  have  directly  developed  out  of  the  prophetic  future  hope, 
but  must  have  been  of  foreign  origin.  We  do  not  meet  with 
them  until  they  have  been  completely  assimilated,  that  is, 
until  they  have  become  blended  with  the  indigenous  prophetic 
hope  of  a  better  world  to  come.  But  although  it  is  impossible 
to  arrive  at  a  positive  conclusion  regarding  the  date  of  Isaiah 
24-27,  it  is  excluded  that  it  should  date  from  the  Maccabaean 
period,  as  a  number  of  scholars  hold,  for  the  reason  that,  though 
1  See  above,  p.  32f. 


78  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

unquestionably  produced  in  a  period  of  literary  decadence, 
the  apocalypse  is  written  in  idiomatic,  faultless  Hebrew.  In 
the  age  of  the  ]\Iaccabees,  however,  people  no  longer  knew  how 
to  \VTite  Hebrew  properly,  Hebrew  havmg  ceased  to  be  a  spoken 
language  (see  below).  The  apocalypse,  in  all  probability,  was 
either  WTitten  in  the  distressing  years  of  348-340  B.C.  when 
Artaxerxes  Ochus  put  dowoi  with  an  u-on  hand  the  revolt  of 
Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Egypt  against  Persia  and  led  away  many 
Jews  captive  to  H^Tcania,  as  punishment  for  their  participation 
in  the  revolt;  or  it  dates  from  the  troublous  times  of  the  last 
decade  of  the  fourth  century  when,  after  the  battle  of  Gaza^ 
(312  B.C.),  Jerusalem  was  captured  and  razed  by  Ptolemy  I, 
and  great  numbers  of  the  people,  including  the  High  Priest, 
were  deported  to  Egypt.^  Since,  then,  in  the  second  half  of 
the  fourth  century  the  belief  in  a  hereafter  had  an  established 
place  in  Je^vdsh  religious  thought,  we  get  400  B.C.  or  thereabout 
as  the  date  for  the  incipient  stage  of  this  belief. 

Another  clue  pointing  to  400  B.C.  as  the  approximate  date  of 
Job  is  found  in  15.  19:  "To  them  (the  fathers)  alone  the  land 
was  given,  no  strangers  lived  among  them."  By  this  statement 
Eliphaz  implies  that  the  foreigners  living  in  the  country,  ob- 
viously in  no  mean  numbers,  are  responsible  for  Job's  heresy. 
On  this  statement  light  is  thrown  (as  I  have  shown  in  my  article 
just  mentioned,  pp.  243f.  and  246)  by  the  record  from  Heca- 
taeus  of  Abdera  in  Josephus,  contra  Apion.  I,  §  191  and  193.  In 
this  record  Hecataeus  tells  about  the  oppression  the  Jews  suf- 
fered from  the  Persian  kings  —  Artaxerxes  Mnemon  and  Arta- 
xerxes Ochus  must  be  meant  ^  —  and  at  the  same  time  from  their 

1  The  authenticity  of  the  record  in  Eusebius,  Chronicon  II,  112f.  (ed. 
Schone)  about  the  deportation  by  Artaxerxes  Ochus,  and  of  that  in  The 
Letter  of  Aristeas,  12f.,  35,  taken  from  Hecataeus  of  Abdera,  about  the 
deportation  by  Ptolemy  I,  admits  of  no  doubt,  as  I  showed  in  the  article, 
Are  There  Any  Maccabaean  Psalms  ?  in  JBL.,  1917,  pp.  237f,  243ff.,  and  247. 

2  The  predecessors  of  these  two  kings  had  bestowed  their  special  favor 
on  the  Jews. 


DATE  79 

immediate  Palestinian  neighbors,  and  adds  that  the  neighbors 
who  had  come  into  the  country  built  themselves  temples  and 
altars,  for  demolishing  which  the  Jews  were  fined  by  the  satraps. 
The  obvious  inference  from  the  latter  statement  is  that  these 
resident  strangers  must  have  had  a  direct  share  in  the  politico- 
social  control  of  the  country,  else  they  could  not  have  erected 
temples  and  altars  in  the  land,  nor  would  the  Persian  satraps 
have  punished  the  Jews  for  destroying  them.  The  record  pre- 
supposes further  that  the  relations  between  Persia  and  the 
Palestinian  neighbors  of  the  Jews  must  as  yet  have  been  of  a 
friendly  nature ;  it  must  refer  therefore  to  the  conditions  which 
prevailed  in  the  first  thirty-five  years  of  Artaxerxes  Mnemon's 
reign,  i.e.,  from  404  to  368,  for  from  that  time,  until  finally 
vanquished  by  Artaxerxes  Ochus,  the  whole  of  Syria  was  in 
open  revolt  against  Persia. 

A  final  proof  that  Job  cannot  well  have  been  written  later 
than  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  is  furnished  by  its 
literary  character.  Though  containing,  very  naturally,  a  num- 
ber of  Aramaisms,^  it  is  a  work  of  such  literary  perfection  that 
it  must  have  been  produced  while  Hebrew  literature  was  at  its 
height.  Not  only  must  Hebrew  have  been  a  living,  flourishing 
language,  but  its  conquest  by  Aramaic  could  not  have  as  yet 
begun.  The  close  of  the  fourth  century,  however,  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  encroachment  of  Aramaic  on  Hebrew  —  an; 
encroachment  which  resulted  first  in  the  japid  decadence  of 
the  Hebrew  language,  and  finally  in  its  dying  out  altogether  as  i 
a  spoken  tongue.  If  nevertheless  the  view  is  taken  by  some 
scholars  that  Job  was  written  around  300  b.c.,^  or  even  later, 
it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  dying  out  of  Hebrew,  though 

1  They  are  not  nearly  as  numerous  as  Kautzsch,  Die  Aramaismen  im 
Alt,  Test.,  and  others  think.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  several  in- 
stances of  the  Aramaic  plural  ending  of  the  noun  are,  like  the  various 
cases  of  Aramaic  orthography,  to  be  charged  to  later  copyists. 

2  The  latest  exponent  of  this  view  is  Steuernagel  in  Kautzsch,  Die  Hei- 
lige  Schrift  des  Alien  Testaments,  3d.  ed  (1910),  II,  p.  296. 


80  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

an  event  of  extraordinary  importance,  is  commonly  ignored 
in  the  historical  surveys  of  postexilic  times,  or  mentioned  only 
cursorily,  as  if  it  were  a  fact  of  little  consequence.  This  event 
must  be  kept  in  mind  in  determining,  not  alone  the  date  of  Job, 
but  the  date  of  many  other  postexilic  products.  The  fact  that 
the  importance  of  this  event  has  been  overlooked  has  interfered 
seriously  with  our  understanding  of  postexilic  Jewish  history 
from  the  closing  decades  of  the  Persian  down  to  the  Maccabaean 
period.  As  I  showed  from  the  linguistic  character  of  the  Hebrew 
original  of  Ben  Sira  and  that  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,^  Hebrew 
had  ceased  between  190  and  165  B.C.  to  be  the  language  of  the 
people,  and  Aramaic  had  taken  its  place.  The  conditions  that 
brought  about  this  momentous  event,  I  showed  further ,2  were 
probably  very  like  those  which  prevailed  in  England  under 
Norman  rule.  The  Jews  must  have  lost  their  social  as  well  as 
their  political  independence,  and  the  Syrians  constituted  the 
ruling  classes  and  upper  strata  of  society,  holding  not  only  all 
the  official  positions,  but  monopolizing  all  the  trade  and  com- 
merce. It  was  the  persistence  tln:ough  generations  of  the 
untoward  social  and  political  conditions  which  became  the  lot 
of  'the  Jews  after  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great  that  finally 
led  to  the  passing  of  Hebrew  as  the  language  of  the  people. 

2.    Relation  of  Job  to  Other  Biblical  Boohs 

A.    To  Proverbs 

In  discussing  the  date  of  Job  I  have  purposely  omitted  all 
reference  to  the  bearing  which  Proverbs  and  Deutero-Isaiah 
are  commonly  thought  to  have  on  this  question,  because,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  no  connection  exists  between  these  books  and 
the  Book  of  Job.    The  view  of  Dillmann  ^  and  many  others  that 

1  In  the  aforementioned  article,  Are  There  Any  Maccabaean  Psalms  ? 
pp.  226-232. 

2  lb.  pp.  236-248.  ^  Op.  cit.,  p.  XXX. 


DATE  81 

there  is  a  close  relation  between  Job  and  Proverbs  1-9  is  not 
sustained  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  facts.  The  inferences 
of  these  scholars  as  to  the  similarity  in  language  between  the 
two  books  rests  on  an  altogether  mechanical  comparison  of 
then-  vocabularies.  The  expressions  pointed  out  by  them  as 
peculiar  to  both  belong  to  the  common  vocabulary,  being  such 
as  might  be  found  in  any  two  authors  who  express  themselves 
naturally  and  simply;  in  a  few  instances  they  may  be  classed 
as  stock  phrases  known  and  used  by  all  the  writers  of  the  time. 
This  holds  good  also  of  the  comparison  of  the  language  of  Job 
with  that  of  the  other  Biblical  books.  Thus  e.g.  Dillmann  de- 
duces from  the  mention  in  Job  of  the  Pleiades  and  Orion  (the 
most  conspicuous  and  best  known  constellations)  the  writer's 
dependence  on  Amos  5.  8/  and  Budde  points  to  the  fact  that 
adultery  is  spoken  of  as  zimma,  "wickedness,"  as  a  sign  of  de- 
pendence on  Lev.  18.  17,  19.  29,  20.  14.^ 

As  to  the  similarity  in  thought  between  Job  and  Proverbs, 
it  is  generally  held,  but  wrongly  so,  that  Job  28  and  15.  7  and 
Prov.  8.  22-31  have  the  Logos-idea  in  common.  Neither  of 
the  Job  passages  contains  the  Logos-idea  proper,  i.e.  the  idea 
of  the  Divine  creative  Wisdom  or  Word  as  the  intermediate 
being  between  God  and  the  world ;  nor  does  either  of  them  ex- 
press the  view  of  Wisdom  as  the  governing  principle  of  the  uni- 
verse. The  gist  of  chap.  28  is  that  absolute  wisdom  cannot 
be  attained  by  man,  but  rests  with  God  alone.  In  15.  7  Eliphaz 
asks  Job  if  the  wisdom  of  the  ages  is  embodied  in  him :  "Wast 
thou  born  as  the  first  of  man?  Wast  thou  created  with  the 
hills  ?  "  or  —  growing  still  more  ironical  —  whether  his  wisdom 
has  come  to  him  through  divine  revelation.  The  scholars  who 
find  in  these  verses  a  reference  to  the  Primeval  Man,  identical 
with  the  Logos,  have  overlooked  the  fact  that  such  an  explana- 
tion is  grammatically  untenable :  ri'shon  'adam  can  only  mean 
"  the  first  of  men,"  whereas  the  expression  for  the  Primeval 
1  Op.  cit.,  p.  XXXI.  2  Op.  ciL,  p.  LIII. 


82  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Man  in  the  later  Jewish  literature  dealing  with  this  notion  is 
invariably  adam  hakadmon. 

The  similarity  widely  believed  to  exist  between  Job  and  Pro- 
verbs is  more  seeming  than  real.  It  is  limited  to  a  certain  re- 
semblance between  the  role  of  admonishers  played  by  the  friends 
toward  Job  and  that  assumed  by  the  writer  of  Proverbs  1-9 
in  urging  his  readers  to  adhere  to  a  virtuous,  god-fearing  life ; 
and  to  the  similarity  in  motive  which  actuates  both  the  friends 
and  the  author  of  the  introductory  chapters  of  Proverbs,  namely, 
their  firm  belief  in  retributive  justice.  With  the  exception  of 
this  incidental  point  of  contact,  there  is  such  a  difference  be- 
tween the  two  books  in  spirit  and  literary  character  that  they 
can  hardly  be  compared. 

The  Book  of  Proverbs  preaches  utilitarian  piety,  recommends 
a  life  of  virtue  as  the  road  to  material  well-being,  whereas  the 
Book  of  Job  sets  up  the  idea  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the  good, 
of  love  of  virtue  without  thought  of  material  reward.  And  the 
difference  in  ethical  standards  is  quite  as  marked  as  the  con- 
trast in  religious  ideals.  The  Book  of  Proverbs  advocates  that 
one  refrain  from  rejoicing  over  the  fall  of  one's  enemy  for  fear 
of  God's  displeasure  (Prov.  24. 17f  .),^  but  the  Book  of  Job  insists 
on  genuine  nobility  toward  one's  enemy  (Job  31.  29ff.),  and 
exemplifies  the  truth  that  evil  must  be  conquered  with  good. 
The  Book  of  Proverbs  warns  against  intercourse  with  an  adul- 
teress, but  the  Book  of  Job  considers  it  immoral  to  "  look  with 
lust  upon  a  woman"  (Job  31.  1). 

As  to  literary  character,  the  Book  of  Proverbs  is  an  eclectic 
work,  devoid  of  any  trace  of  geniun  or  originality.  The  Book 
of  Job,  as  Thomas  Carlyle  has  put  it,  "is  the  greatest  thing  ever 
written  with  pen .  .  .  there  is  nothing  written,  in  the  Bible  or 
out  of  it;  of  equal  literary  merit." 

^  The  motive  urged  in  Prov.  25.  21f .  for  giving  food  to  an  enemy  is 
illuminated  by  the  Egyptian  tale  of  Setne-Khamuas,  who,  to  expiate  his 
guilt,  carries  "  a  brazier  of  fire  on  his  head." 


DATE  83 

B.    To  Deutero-Isaiah 

It  is  generally  thought  that  Deutero-Isaiah  offers  in  the  songs     , 
of  the  servants  of  Yahweh  a  striking  parallel  to  the  Book  of  Job./ 
The  exponents  of  this  view  argue  that  both  writings  are  perr 
vaded  by  the  idea  of  a  servant  of  God  who  though  righteous 
suffers.    They  maintain  further  that  in  Deutero-Isaiah  this 
idea  reaches  its  climax  in  Is.  52. 13-53.  12,  where  this  servant  of 
God  is  described  as  so  sorely  afflicted  that  men,  horrified,  hide 
their  faces  from  him,  believing  him  "stricken  and  smitten  by 
God."     Such  a  view,  however,  is  far  from  correct.     Deutero-^  ^ 
Isaiah  and  Job  furnish  material  for  contrast  rather  than  for 
comparison.     In    Job,    although    considerable    prominence    is 
given  to  universal  suffering,"  the  main  interest  is  made  to  center 
about  the_£ersonal  suffering  of  the  hero  himself ;  the  problem  of-     ^ 
suffering  is  considered  altogether  from  the  individualistic  point 
of  view,  that  is  from  the  aspect  of  its  effect  on  the  individual 
human  soul.    In  Deutero-Isaiah  this  side  of  the  question  re- 
mains in  the  background ;  suffering  is  considered  chiefly  from    • 
the  aspect  of  the  good  that  accrues  through  it  tojothers.     But 
the  heart  of  the  question  is  left  untouched.     Deutero-Isaiah 
is  not  directly  concerned  with  this  problem.     If  Is.  52.  13-53. 
12  is  considered,  as  it  must  be,  as  a  part  of  the  whole  writing,-^ 
it  can  be  said  to  contain  only  incidentally  an  answer  to  the 
question  of  suffering.    It  must  be  remembered  that  Deutero- 
Isaiah  throughout  his  writings  speaks  of  the  suffering  of  Israel; 
personified  by  the  servant,  as  deserved,  and  declares  that  Israel 
is  as  yet  steeped  in  sin,  and  that  its  deliverance  will  be  an  act 
of  God's  grace.    The  apparent  contradiction  to  this  view  in 

*  In  regard  to  the  view  that  the  servant  is  the  personification  of  Israel, 
and  that  the  Ebed-Yahweh-songs  are  an  integral  part  of  the  book,  see 
Budde,  The  So-called  Ebed-Yahweh-songs  and  the  Meaning  of  the  Term 
Servant  of  Yahweh  (in  AJTh.,  1899,  pp.  499ff.,)  Marti,  Das  Buch  Jesaia, 
Giesebrecht,  Der  Knecht  Yahves,  also  my  article,  Where  Did  Deutero- 
Isaiah  Live?  (in  JBL.,  1919,  pp.  lOlff.)- 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

I 
our  Ebed-Yahweh-song  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that       1 

Israel's  suffering  is  considered,  not  so  much  from  the  writer's        ' 
own  point  of  view  as  from  that  of  the  heathen  nations.    These 
nations  speak  of  Israel  as  guiltless  in  comparison  with  them, 
since  they  have  strayed  much  further  from  the  ways  of  God 
than  Israel.  i 

In  Deutero-Isaiah  the  suffering  of  the  people  is  totally  eclipsed       1 
by  the  writer's  exultant  vision  of  Israel's  restoration  to  glory        i 
and  the  regeneration  of  mankind.     Deutero-Isaiah  is  so  carried        ^ 
away  by  this  vision  that  the  casual  reader  of  his  book  is  alto-        I 
gether  oblivious  of  the  problem  of  suffering.     It  was  not  until 
much  later,  when  the  condition  of  the  new  community  had 
become  most  pitiable,  and  the   despairing  cry,  "How  long,        ; 
O  Lord!"  was  heard  on  every  hand,  that  the  problem  of  suf- 
fering became,  so  to  speak,  the  problem  of  the  day.    In  the       j 
Psalms  and  in  Trito-Isaiah  it  is  a  familiar  theme.  I 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Elihu  Interpolation 

The  speech  of  Elihu,  as  restored  by  our  critical  analysis,  is 
in  both  style  and  content  so  inferior  to  the  Job-poem  that  there  '"'' 
caiTbe^ no  doubt  that  it  is  the  addition  of  a  later  writer.     It  is 
pompous  and  diffuse,  with  much  empty  repetition,  in  marked 
contrast  to  the  Job-dialogiies,  which  are  meaty,  compact,  and 
^concise.     Of  the  seventy-two  verses  which  make  up  the  inter- 
polation, thirty,  or  almost  half,  are  taken  up  with  a  tiresome 
and  vainglorious  introduction.     The  rest  of  the  speech' contains  ^  . 
nothing  new  —  nothing  that  has  not  already  been  more  ablyL/ 
said  by  the  three  friends.    What  Elihu  presents  with  such  as-'^ 
surance  and  finality,  as  drawn  from  hitherto  unexplored  depths 
of  wisdom,  is  but  a  shallow  restatement  of  the  orthodox  view     > 
of  suffering  which  the  friends  have  defended  with  incomparably 
greater  skill  and  effect. 

The  difference  in  style  from  the  genuine  dialogues  is  illus- 
trated also  by  another  feature  of  the  interpolation.    In  the 
dialogues  the  direct  quotation  of  Job's  words  by  the  friends, 
or  of  the  friends'  words  by  Job,  is  avoided.    Thus,  when  Eliphaz 
in  22.  13  repeats  Job's  question,  21.  22,  he  is  careful  to  employ 
different  phraseology,  as  is  also  Job  when  making  direct  answer    •" 
to  the  question  put  to  him  by  Bildad  in  36.  28  b  (G).    Elihu,     ^ 
however,  quotes  Job's  words  with  great  exactness,  much  after  j 
the  manner  of  a  learned  pedant,  who  is  more  concerned  about 
literal  accuracy  than  about  style  (cf.  34.  5  b  quoted  from  27.  2  a, 
and  33.  10  fe-1 1  from  13.  24  6  and  27  a-b) .     Other  verbatim  quo- 

85 


86  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

tations  from  the  original  Job-poem  are  34.  3  from  12. 11,  33.  15  o 
from  4.  136,  and  36.  11 6  from  21.  136,  to  which  must  be  added 
33.  7,  "My  terror  need  not  affright  thee,  And  my  hand  will  not 
be  heavy  upon  thee."  This  ludicrous  assurance  spoken  by  Elihu 
to  Job,  is  a  thoughtless  adaptation  of  13.  21  6,  "Let  not  thy 
terror  affright  me,"  and  23.  2  6,  "His  hand  is  heavy,"  the  one 
addressed  to  God,  the  other  said  of  Him  by  Job.  Note  also 
that  Job's  statement  in  37.  236,  "He  .  .  .  giveth  no  account- 
ing," is  absurdly  altered  in  33.  13  to  "He  giveth  no  account 
of  any  of  His  matters."  Instances  of  this  kind  are  so  frequent 
in  interpolations  that  they  may  be  considered  a  characteristic 
feature. 


PART   II 
THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 


1  There  was  a  man  in  the  land  of  Us  whose  name  was  Job ; 
this  man  was  pious,  upright,  and  god-fearing,  and  he 
shunned  evil. 

2  Seven  sons  and  three  daughters  were  born  unto  him. 

3  His  substance  was  seven  thousand  sheep,  three  thousand 
camels,  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  five  hundred  asses, 
and  a  great  many  servants,  so  that  this  man  was  richer  than 
any  man  of  the  East. 

4  Now  it  was  the  custom  of  his  sons  to  hold  a  feast  in  the 
house  of  each  in  turn,  for  a  day,  and  they  would  invite 
their  three  sisters  to  eat  and  drink  with  them. 

5  And  when  the  days  of  their  feasting  had  taken  their 
round.  Job  would  send  for  them  and  have  them  sanc- 
tify themselves,  and  he  would  rise  early  in  the  morning 
and  offer  sacrifices  according  to  their  number;  for  Job 
thought, 

'  It  may  be  that  my  children  have  sinned 
And  blasphemed  God  in  their  hearts/ 
Thus  would  Job  do  at  all  times. 

6  Now  one  day  when  the  heavenly  beings  had  come  to  present 
themselves  to  Yahweh  for  service,  and  among  them  had 
come  also  the  Satan, 

7  Yahweh  said  unto  the  SataJn, 
*  Whence  comest  thou?' 

And  the  Satan  answered  Yahweh  and  said, 
*From  roaming  and  roving  about  the  earth.' 


90  BOOK  OF  JOB 

8  Then  said  Yahweh  unto  the  Satan, 

'  Hast  thou  taken  note  of  my  servant  Job  ? 

His  Hke  is  not  on  earth  — 

A  man  pious  and  upright,  god-fearing  and  shunning  evil.' 

9  But  the  Satan  answered  Yahweh  and  said  ; 
'  Doth  Job  fear  God  for  naught  ? 

10  Hast  Thou  not  hedged  him  about. 

And  his  house,  and  all  that  belongeth  to  him  ? 
Thou  hast  blessed  the  work  of  his  hands, 
And  his  wealth  hath  increased  in  the  land. 

11  But  stretch  forth  Thy  hand. 
And  touch  what  belongeth  to  him, 

I  wager  that  he  will  curse  Thee  to  Thy  very  face  1 ' 

12  And  Yahweh  said  unto  the  Satan  : 

*  All  that  he  hath  is  surrendered  to  thy  power. 
Only  upon  himself  thou  shalt  lay  no  hand.' 

Whereupon  the  Satan  left  Yahweh. 

13  Now  one  day  as  his  sons  and  daughters  were  eating  and 
drinking  in  the  house  of  their  eldest  brother,  14  a  messenger 
came  unto  Job  and  said  : 

*  While  the  oxen  w^ere  plowing, 
And  the  asses  grazing  near  by, 

15  The  Sabaeans  made  a  raid  and  carried  them  off; 
They  slew  the  servants  with  the  sword, 

And  I  alone  escaped  to  tell  thee.' 

16  While  he  was  still  speaking,  another  came  and  said  : 
'  The  fire  of  God  fell  from  heaven 

And  struck  the  flock  and  the  servants  and  consumed  them, 
I  alone  escaped  to  tell  thee.' 

17  While  he  was  still  speaking,  another  came  and  said : 
'The  Chaldaeans  in  three  divisions 

Fell  upon  the  camels  and  carried  them  off, 
They  slew  the  servants  with  the  sword ; 
And  I  alone  escaped  to  tell  thee.' 


BOOK  OF  JOB  91 

18  While  he  was  still  speaking,  another  came  and  said : 
*Thy  sons  and  daughters  were  eating 

And  drinking  in  the  house  of  their  eldest  brother, 

19  When  a  great  wind  swept  over  from  the  desert, 
And  struck  the  four  corners  of  the  house, 

So  that  it  fell  upon  the  young  people  and  they  died ; 
I  alone  escaped  to  tell  thee.' 

20  Thereupon  Job  arose,  rent  his  robe,  and  shaved  his  head 
and  fell  down  upon  the  ground  in  worship,  21  and  said : 

*  Naked  came  I  from  my  mother's  womb, 
And  naked  shall  I  return  thither. 

The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away. 
Praised  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.' 
22        In  spite  of  all  this  Job  did  not  sin, 
Nor  impute  blame  to  God. 

2 

1  One  day  when  the  heavenly  beings  had  come  again  to 
present  themselves  to  Yahweh  for  service  and  among 
them  had  come  also  the  Satan, 

2  Yahweh  said  unto  the  Satan : 

*  Whence  comest  thou  ? ' 

And  the  Satan  answered  Yahweh  and  said : 

*  From  roaming  and  roving  about  the  earth.' 

3  Then  said  Yahweh  unto  the  Satan : 

'  Hast  thou  taken  note  of  my  servant  Job  ? 

Verily,  his  like  is  not  on  earth  — 

A  man  pious  and  upright,  god-fearing  and  shunning  evil. 

He  still  clingeth  to  his  piety. 

Although  thou  didst  incite  me  to  ruin  him  without  cause.' 

4  But  the  Satan  answered  Yahweh  and  said : 

*  Skin  for  skin  ! 

All  that  a  man  hath  he  will  give  for  his  life. 


g2  BOOK  OF  JOB 

5  But  stretch  forth  thy  hand, 
And  touch  his  bone  and  his  flesh, 

I  wager  that  he  will  curse  Thee  to  Thy  very  face.' 

6  Then  said  Yahweh  unto  the  Satan  : 
*He  is  in  thy  power,  only  spare  his  life.' 

7  Whereupon  the  Satan  left  Yahweh,  and  smote  Job  with 
sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  to  the  crown  of  his  heado 

8  And  he  (Job)  took  a  potsherd  to  scrape  himself  with  as  he 
sat  on  the  ash-heap. 

9  And  his  wife  said  unto  him : 

'Wilt  thou  still  cling  to  thy  piety? 
Curse  God  and  die  I ' 

10  But  he  said  unto  her : 

*Thou  speakest  as  an  impious  woman  might  speak. 

Should  we  accept  the  good  at  God's  hand. 

And  not  also  the  evil  ? ' 

In  spite  of  all  this  Job  did  not  sin  with  his  lips. 

11  When  Job's  three  friends  heard  of  all  the  evil  that  had  be- 
fallen him,  they  came  each  from  his  place,  Eliphaz  the 
Temanite,  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite, 
and  met  as  agreed  to  go  together  to  condole  with  Job  and 
comfort  him,  12  But  when  they  looked  from  a  distance 
and  could  not  recognize  him,  they  raised  their  voice  and 
wept,  and  rent  each  his  robe,  and  strewed  dust  over  their 
heads  by  casting  it  heavenward,  13  And  they  sat  beside 
him  for  seven  days  and  seven  nights  without  any  one 
speaking  a  word  to  him,  for  they  saw  that  the  affliction 
was  very  great. 

Job 

3 

1  Whereupon  Job  opened  his  mouth  and  cursed  his  day. 

2  And  Job  spoke  and  said : 


BOOK  OF  JOB  93            . 

■I 

3  Perish  the  day  that  I  was  born,  I 
The  night  that  it  was  said,  '  It  is  a  boy  1 '  j 

4  May  that  day  be  dark ;  j 
May  God  above  take  no  heed  of  it,  : 
Nor  Hght  shine  on  it.  ; 

5  May  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  claim  it.  i 
May  clouds  hover  over  it ;  I 
May  the  darkening  of  daylight  affright  it. 

6  May  that  night  be  seized  by  utter  darkness,  ! 
May  it  not  be  counted  among  the  days  of  the  year,  i 
Nor  included  in  the  number  of  the  moons.  ] 

7  May  that  night  be  sad,  - 
May  no  sound  of  joy  peal  forth  on  it.  \ 

8  May  it  be  cursed  by  those  skilled  in  cursing  the  day,  \ 
By  those  expert  in  rousing  Leviathan. 

9  May  the  stars  of  its  dusk  remain  dark,  ; 
May  it  hope  for  light  in  vain,  | 
May  it  not  behold  the  eyelids  of  the  dawn,  j 

10  Because  the  door  of  my  mother's  womb  was  not  closed,                 j 
So  that  misery  might  be  hidden  from  mine  eyes.  j 

11  Why  did  I  not  die  at  birth,  | 
Why  did  I  not  expire  as  I  came  forth  from  the  womb  ?  \ 

16  Or  why  was  I  not  like  an  untimely  birth,  that  is  buried, 

Like  the  still-born,  that  never  see  the  light  ?  i 

12  Why  did  knees  receive  me  ?  j 
Why  did  I  suck  the  breast  ? 

13  For  then  might  I  lie  in  peace. 

Sleep,  and  be  at  rest,  j 

14  With  kings  and  counsellors  of  the  earth,  | 
Who  built  pyramids  for  themselves,  \ 

15  Or  with  grandees,  who  are  provided  with  gold,  ^ 
Who  have  their  tombs  filled  with  treasure.  ' 

17  There  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  i 
There  the  weary  are  at  rest. 


94  BOOK  OF  JOB 

18  There  the  prisoners  enjoy  comfort  — 
They  hear  not  the  voice  of  the  taskmaster. 

19  There  the  lowly  and  the  great  are  equals,  i 

And  the  slave  is  free  from  his  master.  ' 

I 

1 

20  Why  is  light  given  to  the  wretched,  j 
Life  to  the  weary  of  soul ;  | 

21  WTio  yearn  in  vain  for  death,  I 
Who  seek  it  more  eagerly  than  treasure ;  j 

22  Who  would  rejoice  beyond  measure,  ' 
Would  exult  if  they  could  find  the  grave  ? 

23  Why  is  life  given  to  a  man  whose  way  is  dark,  I 
Because  God  hath  hedged  him  in  ?  j 

24  My  sobs  take  the  place  of  my  bread,  1 
And  my  groans  flow  forth  like  water. 

25  The  fears  that  enter  my  mind  take  bodily  shape ; 

The  torments  that  I  dread  lay  hold  of  me.  1 

26  I  have  no  peace,  no  rest,  no  respite,  i 
Agony  Cometh  ever  afresh. 


Eliphaz 
4 

1  And  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  answered  and  said :  ; 

2  If  one  should  venture  to  say  a  word  to  thee,  wouldst  thou         ; 

be  wearied  ?  i 

But  who  could  refrain  from  speech  ? 

3  Behold,  thou  hast  admonished  many,  *    1 
And  hast  given  strength  unto  weak  hands ;  ' 

4  Thy  words  have  given  support  to  those  that  were  tottering,         \ 
And  thou  hast  made  firm  the  feeble  knees.  I 

5  Now  that  calamity  hath  come  to  thee  thou  despairest,  j 
Now  that  it  hath  touched  thee  thou  art  confounded. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  95 

6  Was  not  thy  fear  of  God  thy  rehance. 
The  integrity  of  thy  ways  thy  hope  ? 

7  Consider,  who  ever  perished  innocent, 
And  when  were  the  upright  ever  destroyed  ? 

8  I  have  seen  —  they  that  plow  evil  and  sow  trouble 
Reap  the  fruit  thereof. 

9  At  the  breath  of  God  they  perish. 

At  the  blast  of  His  anger  they  vanish. 

10  The  roaring  of  the  lion,  the  cry  of  the  mighty  lion,  is 

stilled ; 
And  the  teeth  of  the  strong  young  lions  are  knocked  out : 

11  For  lack  of  prey  the  lion  perisheth, 
And  the  brood  of  the  lioness  is  scattered. 

12  Now  to  me  a  message  stole. 

My  ear  caught  a  whisper  thereof ; 

13  In  the  reveries  of  night- visions 
When  deep  sleep  lay  on  men, 

14  Fear  seized  me  and  trembling. 
Filled  all  my  bones  with  dread ; 

15  A  spirit  flitted  past  my  face ; 

The  hair  of  my  flesh  stood  on  end : 

16  It  paused,  but  I  could  not  discern  the  countenance  thereof, 
A  form  before  my  eyes. 

A  faint  whisper  did  I  perceive : 

17  'Can  mortal  be  just  in  the  presence  of  God ? 
Can  man  be  pure  before  his  Maker  ? ' 

18  Even  in  His  servants  He  putteth  no  trust, 
His  angels  He  chargeth  with  error ; 

19  How  much  more  those  that  dwell  in  tenements  of  clay. 
Whose  substance  is  dust. 

Who  are  crushed  like  a  moth ; 

20  Between  morning  and  evening  they  are  shattered, 
Unheeded  they  perish  forever. 


96  BOOK  OF  JOB 

21     When  their  life-thiesid  is  broken  off, 
Verily,  do  they  not  die  in  ignorance  ? 


Call  then,  if  there  be  any  one  to  answer  thy  prayer ! 

To  which  of  the  holy  beings  wilt  thou  turn  ? 

Rage  killeth  the  fool. 

Passion  destroyeth  the  impetuous  man. 

True,  I  have  seen  the  fool  taking  root. 

But  suddenly  his  habitation  was  found  cursed ; 

His  children  were  cut  off  from  salvation, 

They  were  crushed  in  the  gate,  while  there  was  none  to 

come  to  their  rescue. 
What  they  harvested  the  hungry  would  eat. 


\6    Verily,  misery  springeth  not  up  out  of  the  soil,  I 

Nor  doth  affliction  sprout  from  the  ground ;  ■ 

7  Man  it  is  that  begetteth  trouble  —  \ 
Impetuous  spirits  soar  high.  ! 

8  Were  it  I,  I  should  seek  God,  I 
I  should  commit  my  cause  to  God,  i 

9  Who  worketh  great,  inscrutable  things,  i 
Wonders  without  number ;                                                               j 

10  Who  giveth  rain  unto  the  earth,  i 
Sendeth  down  water  unto  the  fields ;  ] 

11  Who  hath  power  to  exalt  the  lowly,  i 
So  that  the  grief  stricken  find  happiness.  | 

12  He  frustrateth  the  schemes  of  the  crafty, 

So  that  their  hands  can  accomplish  nothing  substantial.      '         '■ 

13  He  ensnare th  the  wise  in  their  own  cunning, 

So  that  the  plot  of  the  schemers  is  confounded  —  ] 

14  They  encounter  darkness  in  the  daytime,  j 
Grope  at  midday  as  if  it  were  night.                                              \ 


BOOK  OF  JOB  97            \ 

Thus  from  the  weapon  of  their  crafty  mouths  He  delivereth  j 

the  poor, 

And  from  the  power  of  the  mighty.  | 

There  is  then  hope  for  the  poor  —  • 

Iniquity  will  be  quelled.  \ 

Verily,  blessed  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth ;  ' 

Therefore,    despise   not   thou    the    chastisement   of  the            j 

Almighty !  ' 
For  though  He  maketh  sore,  He  bindeth  up. 

Though  He  woundeth,  He  maketh  whole.  ] 

He  will  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles,  ■ 
Yea,  in  seven  no  evil  will  touch  thee : 
In  famine  He  will  save  thee  from  death. 
In  war  from  the  power  of  the  sword ; 

Thou  wilt  be  shielded  from  the  scourge  of  the  tongue,  ' 

And  when  destruction  cometh,  thou  needst  have  no  fear.  ; 

At  destruction  and  famine  thou  wilt  laugh,  \ 

Of  the  wild  animals  thou  wilt  have  no  dread.  1 

Even  with  the  earth-demons  thou  wilt  be  in  league,  j 

And  the  wild  animals  will  be  at  peace  with  thee.  \ 
Thou  wilt  find  thy  tent  prosperous. 

And  when  thou  dost  inspect  thy  home,  thou  wilt  miss  i 

nothing.  \ 
Thou  wilt  find  thy  descendants  numerous, 

Thy  offspring  as  the  grass  of  the  earth.  I 
Thou  wilt  go  down  to  the  grave  in  ripe  old  age, 

As  the  shocks  of  grain  are  brought  in  in  season.  | 

This  we  have  found  by  diligent  search ;  ^ 
That  it  is  true  we  have  always  heard  affirmed  — 

Impress  it  then  on  thy  mmd !  j 


198  BOOK  OF  JOB 


Job 


'  i 

1  Job  answered  and  said :  • 

2  Would  that  my  anguish  might  be  weighed,  | 
With  my  calamity  laid  against  it  in  the  balance !  j 

3  Verily  then,  it  would  be  found  heavier  than  the  sand  of  j 

the  sea ;  i 

Therefore  are  my  words  frenzied.  i 

4  The  arrows  of  the  Almighty  have  pierced  me,  i 
My  soul  hath  sucked  in  their  venom ; 

The  terrors  of  God  are  arrayed  against  me.  . 

5  Doth  the  wild  ass  bray  amidst  green  grass  ?  \ 
Or  doth  the  ox  low  at  his  fodder?  ; 

6  Can  that  which  hath  no  savor  be  eaten  without  salt?  i 
Or  is  there  any  taste  in  the  slimy  juice  of  the  milkweed?  | 

7  My  soul  refuseth  to  touch  them :  i 
They  are  as  loathsome  as  the  disease  which  is  my  daily  ! 

food.  I 

8  Would  that  my  prayer  might  be  fulfilled,  , 
That  God  might  grant  that  for  which  I  yearn,  « 

9  That  it  might  please  God  to  crush  out  my  life,  \ 
That  He  might  loose  His  hand  and  cut  me  off : 

10  And  I  should  still  have  the  consolation  — 

So    that    I    could    leap    for    joy  withal    my  relentless 

anguish  —  ; 

That  I  have  not  denied  the  requirements  of  the  Holy 

One.  i 

11  What  is  my  strength  that  I  should  still  hope  ?  { 
What  the  end  in  store  for  me  that  I  should  be  patient?  j 

12  Is  my  strength  the  strength  of  iron  ?  j 
Or  is  my  flesh  of  brass  ?  \ 

13  Verily,  there  is  no  help  for  me,  ; 
Salvation  hath  fled  from  me. 


BOOK  OF  JOB                                99  j 

14  To  him  who  is  in  despair  sympathy  should  be  shown  by  | 

his  friends,  \ 

Even  though  he  departed  from  the  fear  of  the  Almighty.  j 

15  My  brethren  have  disappointed  me  like  the  mountain  ! 

streams, 

Like  water  courses  that  pass  away.  j 

16  Once  turbid  from  icewater,  flooded  by  the  melting  snow,  ' 

17  When  scorched  by  the  sun,  they  dwindle, 

When  it  groweth  warm,  they  disappear  from  their  place.  1 

18  The  paths  of  their  course  wind,  j 
They  rise  into  the  void  and  vanish.  j 

19  The  caravans  of  Teima  look  for  them. 
The  traders  of  Sheba  long  for  them ; 

20  They  are  disappointed,  because  they  trusted  in  them. 

When  they  come  to  them,  they  are  confounded :  \ 

21  So  have  ye  been  disappointing  to  me ;  \ 
When  ye  saw  the  terror,  ye  were  seized  with  fear.  I 

22  Did  I  say.  Give  unto  me  of  your  substance,  j 
Or  ransom  me  with  your  wealth  ?  i 

23  Or  deliver  me  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

And  save  me  from  the  power  of  the  tyrants  ?  ■ 

24  Enlighten  me,  and  I  shall  listen,  i 
Make  clear  unto  me  wherein  I  have  failed : 

25  How  forcible  are  sincere  words ;  j 
But  what  doth  your  reasoning  prove  ?  I 

26  Do  ye  think  to  juggle  with  words,  ; 
And  do  ye  account  as  wind  the  words  of  him  who  is  ; 

in  despair  ?  ■ 

27  Ye  would  even  cast  dice  over  an  orphan,  J 
Or  barter  your  friend.  \ 

2^;    Now  be  pleased  to  look  at  me !  i 

Could  I  really  dissemble  to  your  face? 

30    Hath  there  been  any  deadly  sin  in  my  tongue  ?  '■ 

Would  not  my  palate  discern  such  abysmal  evil  ? 

i 


100  BOOK  OF  JOB 

29    Oh,  turn  from  your  wicked  course !    Let  there  be  no  in- 
justice ! 
Yea,  turn  from  your  wicked  course!    I  am  right  in  this 
still: 


1  Is  not  man's  stay  on  earth  continuous  toil  ? 

Are  not  his  days  like  the  days  of  one  laboring  for  hire, 

2  Like  those  of  the  slave  who  panteth  for  the  shade, 
Or  those  of  the  hireling  who  looketh  for  his  wage  ? 

3  I,  too,  have  received  months  of  wretchedness  as  my  portion, 
And  nights  of  misery  have  been  allotted  to  me. 

4  When  I  lie  down,  I  think.  When  can  I  arise  ? 

Then  the  night  draggeth  on,  and  I   become   weary   of 
tossing  until  dawn. 

5  My  body  is  covered  with  worms  and  as  if  with  clods  of 

earth. 
My  skin  scabbeth  and  breaketh  out  afresh. 

6  My  days  pass  more  swiftly  than  a  loom-shuttle,^ 
They  vanish  without  hope. 

7  b  Never  again  will  they  see  happiness.-^ 
26    They  shoot  by  like  skiffs  of  reed. 

Like  the  eagle  that  swoopeth  down  on  his  prey. 

7  a    Consider  that  my  life  is  but  a  breath ! 

8  The  eye  of  him  who  cometh  to  see  me  is  not  likely  to  behold 

me; 
While  one's  eyes  rest  upon  me,  I  may  cease  to  be. 

9  As  the  cloud  that  passeth  by  vanisheth. 

So  he  that  goeth  down  to  Sheol  ascendeth  no  more. 
10    Never  again  will  he  return  to  his  home ; 
Neither  will  his  place  behold  him  any  more. 

^  Variant 

9.  25  My  days  pass  more  swiftly  than  a  runner ; 

They  fly  away,  never  again  will  they  see  happiness. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  li)l 

11  Therefore,  I  will  not  restrain  my  mouth, 
I  will  speak  in  the  anguish  of  my  spirit, 
Will  complain  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul. 

12  Am  I  the  primeval  sea  or  the  dragon 
That  Thou  placest  a  guard  around  me  ? 

13  When  I  think,  My  bed  will  comfort  me. 
My  couch  relieve  my  suffering, 

14  Then  Thou  startlest  me  with  dreams, 
Terrifiest  me  with  nightmares, 

15  So  that  I  desire  to  be  choked  to  death. 
That  I  prefer  death  to  my  pains. 

16  I  loathe  my  life ! 

I  shall  not  live  for  ever. 

Cease  Thy  attack  on  me,  since  my  days  are  fleeting ! 

17  What  is  man  that  Thou  shouldst  hold  him  worthy  of 

esteem. 
Or  pay  heed  unto  him  ? 

18  Yet  Thou  visitest  punishment  on  him  day  after  day. 
And  triest  him  every  moment. 

19  Why  dost  Thou  not  turn  away  from  me. 

Or  grant  me  respite  —  long  enough  at  least  to  swallow  my 
spittle? 

20  If  I  have  sinned,  what  have  I  done  unto  Thee, 
Thou,  who  keepest  constant  watch  on  man  ? 
Why  hast  Thou  made  me  Thy  target 

So  that  I  have  become  a  burden  to  myself  ?  ^ 

21  Why  dost  Thou  not  forgive  my  transgression  and  pardon 

my  sin  ? 
For  then  might  I  lie  at  rest  in  the  grave. 
And  if  Thou  wouldst  search   for   me,   I  should   be  no 

more. 

*  Variant:  Why  must  I  serve  as  object  of  Thy  attack? 


103  BOOK  OF  JOB  j 

Bildad  '  [ 

1  Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered  and  said,  ] 

2  How  long  wilt  thou  speak  in  this  strain  ?  j 
How  long  will  the  words  of  thy  mouth  be  as  boisterous  i 

wind  ? 

3  Doth  God  pervert  justice,  the  Almighty,  righteousness  ?  i 

4  If  thy  children  sinned  against  Him, 

He  cast  them  out  of  His  presence  in  penalty  for  their  trans-  ; 

gression.  i 

5  Now,  if  thou  wouldst  diligently  seek  God, 
Wouldst  implore  the  mercy  of  the  Almighty, 

6  Verily,  God  would  be  moved  in  thy  favor  — 
Provided  thou  art  pure  and  upright  — 

And  would  make  thy  home  to  prosper  again  in  proof  of  \ 

thy  righteousness.  ' 

7  Then,  even  had  thy  former  life  been  humble. 

Thy  future  would  be  great.  \ 

8  Inquire  of  the  bygone  ages,  turn  to  the  wisdom  of  the  \ 

fathers,  ; 

9  For  we  are  but  of  yesterday  and  know  nothing,  ' 
Yea,  a  mere  shadow  are  our  days  on  earth ;  | 

10  But  they,  they  will  teach  thee  and  tell  thee,  ; 
They  can  draw  from  their  minds  words  of  authority, 

1 1  Can  the  papyrus  grow  up  where  there  is  no  swamp  ?  . 
The  reed  thrive  without  water  ?  j 

12  Would  it  not  be  nipped  while  yet  in  blossom?  I 
Wither  sooner  than  any  other  herb  ?  j 

13  Such  is  the  fate  of  all  that  forget  God :  j 
The  hope  of  the  godless  man  must  perish.  j 

14  His  reliance  is  a  gossamer,  I 
His  trust  is  a  spider's  web,  ' 


BOOK  OF  JOB  103 

15  Which  will  not  stand  if  one  leaneth  against  it. 
Nor  hold  if  one  elingeth  to  it. 

16  Though  he  blossom  in  the  sun, 

And  his  shoots  spread  over  his  garden, 

17  Though  his  roots  wind  round  the  rocks. 
And  penetrate  the  stones ; 

18  Yet  when  he  is  wiped  out  from  his  place. 

It  will  deny  him,  saying,  '  I  have  never  seen  thee.' 

19  Such,  truly,  will  be  the  end  of  his  career. 
And  out  of  the  soil  will  others  spring  up. 

20  Verily,  God  will  not  cast  away  the  pious  man. 
Neither  will  he  uphold  the  evildoers. 

21  He  will  yet  fill  thy  mouth  with  laughter. 
And  thy  lips  with  shouting ; 

22  Thy  enemies  will  be  clothed  with  shame. 
But  the  tent  of  the  wicked  will  cease  to  be. 


Job 

9 

1  Job  answered  and  said : 

2  Indeed  I  know  that  it  is  so : 

How  could  man  be  just  in  the  presence  of  God? 

3  If  He  (God)  consented  to  argue  with  him. 

He  (man)  could  not  answer  Him  one  out  of  a  thousand 
(questions). 

4  Howsoever  wise  and  courageous. 

Who  could  defy  Him  and  escape  unscathed  ?  — 

5  Him  who  removeth  the  mountains. 

And  they  know  it  not  when  He  overturneth  them  in  His 
wrath; 

6  Who  shaketh  the  earth  in  its  foundations 
So  that  the  pillars  thereof  totter ; 


1 

BOOK  OF  JOB  I 

Who  commandeth  the  sun  to  rise  not  | 

And  sealeth  up  the  stars ;  ■ 

Who  alone  spread  out  the  heavens  i 

And  hath  dominion  over  the  billows  of  the  sea  j  j 

Who  made  the  Bear,  Orion,  and  the  Pleiades,  I 

And  the  Chambers  of  the  South ;  j 

WTio  worketh  great  unfathomable  things,  ; 

Wonders  without  number.  ; 
If  He  passed  by  me,  I  should  not  perceive  Him, 

If  He  swept  past,  I  should  not  be  aware  of  Him.  \ 
If  He  sweepeth  by  and  casteth  one  into  fetters  and  sum- 

moneth  one  to  tribunal,  j 

Who  can  restrain  Him,  who  can  say  unto  Him,  What  I 

doestThou?  ; 

God  need  not  restrain  His  wrath  —  j 

Subdued  by  Him,  the  helpers  of  Rahab  crouched.  I 

How  much  less  could  I  answer  Him,  | 
Should  I  know  how  to  choose  my  words  before  Him. 

Even  if  my  cause  were  just,  I  could  not  answer,  ; 

I  should  have  to  implore  the  mercy  of  my  opponent.  i 

If  I  called  and  He  answered,  ^ 
I  should  not  believe  that  He  had  given  ear  unto  my  voice  — 
He  who  threateneth  to  crush  me  in  the  tempest, 

And  who  hath  inflicted  upon  me  many  wounds  for  no  j 

cause.  ' 
He  giveth  me  no  pause  to  breathe. 

But  feedeth  me  ever  with  anguish.  , 

If  it  is  a  question  of  the  power  of  the  mighty  —  behold  ! 

Him! 

And  if  it  is  a  question  of  right,  who  dare  summon  Him  ?  ■ 

Even  though  I  am  righteous,  I 
My  own  mouth  must  condemn  me ; 
Though  I  am  innocent, 
It  cannot  but  declare  me  at  fault. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  105       J 

21  I  am  innocent ! 

I  do  not  care  for  my  life,  I  loathe  my  life.  ' 

22  It  is  all  the  same !  | 
Therefore  do  I  maintain,  The  innocent  and  the  wicked        j 

alike  doth  He  annihilate.  | 

23  If  the  scom'ge  slayeth  its  victims  suddenly, 

He  mocketh  at  the  despair  of  the  innocent.  \ 

27  If  I  think,  I  will  forget  my  anguish,  ) 
I  will  dispel  my  gloom,  and  appear  cheerful,  ] 

28  Even  then  I  am  wrought  up  because  of  my  suffering :  | 
I  know  that  Thou  wilt  not  absolve  me,  j 

29  I  needs  must  stand  condemned  —  ] 
Why  make  vain  efforts  ?  j 

30  If  I  washed  myself  with  snow,  ! 
And  cleansed  my  hands  with  lye,  1 

31  Thou  wouldst  plunge  me  in  the  mire  \ 
So  that  my  clothes  would  abhor  me.  ] 

32  He  is  not  a  man,  as  I  am,  that  I  could  give  accounting  to 

Him,  j 

That  we  could  go  together  to  the  tribunal.  j 

33  Would  that  there  were  an  umpire  between  us,  I 
Who  would  arbitrate  between  us  both,  i 

34  So  that  He  might  remove  His  scourge  from  me,'  | 
And  His  terror  no  longer  affright  me.  i 

35  Then  might  I  speak  without  dreading  Him. 
As  it  is,  my  mind  is  thrown  into  confusion, 

1  a  I  am  loath  to  live.  '>. 


10 

16     I  will  give  way  to  my  despair,  • 

I  will  speak  in  the  anguish  of  my  spirit. 

2    I  will  say  unto  God,  Do  not  condemn  me,  j 

Tell  me  wherefore  Thou  hast  attacked  me,  | 


106  BOOK  OF  JOB 

1 

3  Doth  it  become  Thee  to  crush,  ■ 
To  despise  the  work  of  Thy  hands  ?  *                                               i 

4  Hast  Thou  human  eyes  ?  ' 
Or  dost  Thou  see  as  man  seeth  ?  ! 

5  Are  thy  days  Hke  the  days  of  man. 

Thy  years,  like  unto  the  span  of  man's  life, 

6  That  Thou  seekest  my  guilt  ] 
And  searchest  for  my  sin,  j 

7  Although  Thou  knowest  that  I  am  not  guilty,  I 
And  that  there  is  none  who  can  deliver  one  from  Thy  hand  ?         i 

8  Thy  hands  have  shaped  and  made  me ;  ^ 
Yet  Thou  hast  turned  against  me  to  destroy  me. 

9  Remember  that  Thou  hast  made  me  as  clay,  i 
And  that  Thou  wilt  turn  me  into  dust.                                          i 

10  Didst  Thou  not  cast  me  in  a  mold  like  milk  j 
And  curdle  me  like  cheese, 

1 1  Clothe  me  with  skin  and  fiesh 

And  intertwine  me  with  bones  and  sinews? 

12  Life  and  love  Thou  hast  bestowed  upon  me,  i 
And  Thy  care  hath  guarded  my  spirit ;  I 

13  Yet  this  Thou  hast  kept  concealed  in  Thy  heart,  i 
This,  I  know.  Thou  hast  had  in  mind :                                          j 

14  Should  I  sin  —  and  Thou  art  watching  me  for  that  j 
Thou  wouldst  not  absolve  me  from  my  guilt. 

15  If  I  incur  guilt,  woe  unto  me !  ! 
And  yet,  if  I  am  righteous,  I  may  not  lift  up  my  head  — 

I,  sated  with  ignominy,  and  steeped  in  misery.  ; 

16  And  should  it  (my  head)  exalt  itself. 

Like  a  lion  Thou  wouldst  hunt  me,  and  again  and  again 
Thou  wouldst  deal  with  me  mysteriously.  ! 

17  Thou  wouldst  summon  ever  new  witnesses  against  me,  ; 
Wouldst  ever  increase  Thy  anger  towards  me, 

Wouldst  heap  upon  me  ever  new  relays  of  misery. 

*  While  Thou  shinest  upon  the  counsel  of  the  wicked.  , 


BOOK  OF  JOB  107 

18  Wherefore  didst  Thou  bring  me  forth  from  the  womb? 
Why  did  I  not  die  before  any  eye  had  seen  me, 

19  So  that  I  might  be  as  if  I  had  never  existed  — 
Carried  from  the  womb  to  the  grave  ? 

20  Are  not  the  days  of  my  Hf e  few  ? 

Leave  me  in  peace,  that  I  may  have  cheer  for  a  short  while, 

21  Before  I  go,  never  to  return,  to  the  land  of  darkness  and 

of  the  shadow  of  death, 

22  The  land  of  gloom  and  chaos,  where,  even  when  it  groweth 

light. 
Is  the  gloom  of  the  shadow  of  death. 

Zophar 
11 

1  Then  answered  Zophar  the  Naamathite  and  said  : 

2  Should  the  wordy  person  remain  unanswered? 
Or  should  the  vain  talker  be  in  the  right? 

3  Should  thy  chatter  put  men  to  silence. 

And  should  there  be  none  to  censure  thee  when  thou  scoff  est 

4  And  sayest,  My  words  are  honest. 
And  I  am  innocent  in  Thine  eyes  ? 

5  Would  that  God  might  speak, 

And  open  His  mouth  in  reply  to  thee, 

6  That  He  might  reveal  to  thee  the  things  hidden  from  wisdom. 
Too  mysterious  for  understanding ! 

Then  wouldst  thou  know  that  He  reckoneth  not  many  of 
thy  sins. 

7  Wilt  thou  seek  to  fathom  the  inscrutable  Godhead  ? 
Wilt  thou  plumb  the  depths  of  the  Almighty  ? 

8  Higher  is  He  than  the  heavens  —  what  would  thy  efforts 

avail  ? 
Deeper  is  He  than  the  nether  world  —  what  wouldst  thou 
find  out? 


1108  BOOK  OF  JOB  1 

9    Longer  is  He  than  the  earth  in  extension,  \ 

Vaster  is  He  than  the  sea.  i 

11  Verily,  He  knoweth  the  wicked  people,  ; 
He  seeth  iniquity,  and  giveth  heed  to  it.  ! 

12  So  the  empty-headed  man  gaineth  understanding,  i 
And  the  wild-ass  colt  is  reborn  as  man.  ] 

13  If  thou  wouldst  turn  thy  heart  to  Him, 
And  spread  forth  thy  hands  toward  Him, 

14  And  if  evil  is  in  thy  hand,  if  thou  wouldst  cast  it  away, 

And  not  let  wickedness  dwell  in  thy  tent,  i 

15  Surely,  then  mightst  thou  lift  up  thy  head  without  harm ;  ' 
Thou  wouldst  be  established  as  on  a  rock, 

And  mightst  fear  no  more.  l 

16  Thou  mightst  forget  thy  trouble,  ; 
And  think  of  it  but  as  water  that  hath  flowed  away. 

17  Thy  life  would  come  up  brighter  than  the  noonday ;  ■ 
Darkness  would  change  to  daylight.                                               I 

18  Thou  mightst  feel  secure,  because  there  would  be  hope,  j 
And  having  searched  (thy  premises)  thou  mightst  lie  down         j 

in  safety,  i 

19  And  rest  with  none  to  alarm  thee.  j 
Many  would  seek  thy  favor. 

20  However,  the  eyes  of  the  wicked  will  waste  away ; 
Their  refuge  will  be  gone  from  them. 
Their  hope  will  be  snuffed  out  like  the  breath  of  life. 


Job  j 

12  ] 


1  Then  Job  answered  and  said : 

2  No  doubt  ye  are  the  people. 
And  wisdom  will  die  with  you. 

3  a  I  have  a  mmd  as  well  as  you 


BOOK  OF  JOB  109 

2  a  And  what  ye  know  I  know,  too, 

3  6  I  do  not  fall  short  of  you  — 

3  c  Who  hath  not  such  ivisdom  ? 

4  A  laughing-stock  to  his  friends  hath  he  become, 

Whose  prayer,  when  he  called  unto  Him,  God  would 

answer  — 
A  laughing-stock,  the  righteous,  perfect  man. 

5  To  the  mind  of  the  prosperous  man,  contempt  should  be 

dealt  out  to  him  who  suffereth  misfortune, 
A  kick  be  given  them  that  have  lost  their  footing. 

6  The  tents  of  robbers  enjoy  peace, 
They  that  provoke  God  live  in  security, 


They  whose  god  is  in  their  fist. 


« 


9.    24    The  world  is  given  into  the  power  of  the  wicked :  ! 

He  blindf oldeth  her  rulers  —  if  not  He,  who  then  ?  ; 

l2.      7    Ask  but  the  animals,  they  can  show  thee,  i 

Or  the  birds  of  the  sky,  they  can  tell  thee,  I 

8  Or  the  reptiles  of  the  earth,  they  can  show  thee ;  i 
And  the  fish  of  the  sea  can  tell  thee :  j 

9  Who  among  all  these  doth  not  know  ■ 
That  the  hand  of  the  Lord  worketh  this,  * 

10  In  whose  hand  is  the  life  of  all  living  beings  i 
And  the  spirit  of  all  flesh?  j 

11  Doth  not  the  ear  discern  words,  j 
And  the  palate  taste  food  ?  i 

12  *With  gray  beards  is  wisdom,  j 
With  aged  people  is  understanding,'  (ye  say)  I 

13  (But  I  say)  Wisdom  and  might  is  with  God,  and  counsel      i 

and  understanding.  ' 

14  What  He  teareth  down  cannot  be  rebuilt ;  [ 
If  He  fettereth  a  man,  the  fetters  cannot  be  loosed.  j 

15  If  He  withholdeth  the  rains,  the  earth  drieth  up,  j 
And  if  He  letteth  them  loose,  they  overturn  the  earth.  1 

16  Power  and  providence  are  with  Him ;  j 


no  BOOK  OF  JOB 

He  that  falleth  into  error,  and  he  that  leadeth  into  error, 
are  both  His  work. 

17  He  driveth  away  councilors  stripped  of  their  'power, 
And  confoimdeth  rulers. 

18  He  looseth  the  bonds  imposed  by  kings. 
And  bindeth  a  rope  around  their  loins. 

19  He  driveth  away  priests  bereft  of  their  poicer. 
And  overthroweth  the  mighty. 

20  He  robbeth  the  self-reliant  of  their  speech. 
And  taketh  away  judgment  from  the  elders. 

21  He  poureth  contempt  upon  noblemen. 
And  looseneth  the  girdle  of  the  mighty. 

22  He  uncovereth  out  of  darkness  hidden  plans. 

And  bringeth  to  light  things  dark  as  the  shadow  of  death. 

23  He  maketh  nations  great  and  destroyeth  them, 
He  causeth  nations  to  spread  and  layeth  them  low. 

24  He  robbeth  the  chiefs  of  the  land  of  understanding, 

And  sendeth  them  forth  to  wander  in  trackless  desert-land — 

25  Then  they  grope  in  the  dark  without  light, 
And  stagger  as  if  drunk. 

13 

1     All  this  mine  eye  hath  seen,  mine  ear  hath  heard  and  per- 
ceived. 
3    Nevertheless  I  will  speak  out  imto  the  Almighty, 
I  desire  to  plead  my  case  before  God. 
21.     4    Should  I  pour  out  my  grief  to  men  ? 
And  why  should  I  not  be  impatient? 
13.     4    Ye  are  but  forgers  of  lies,  quacks,  all  of  you. 

5  If  ye  would  only  keep  silent. 

It  might  be  accounted  to  you  as  wisdom ! 

6  Listen  now  to  my  reasoning,  and  give  attention  to  the 

pleading  of  my  lips ! 


BOOK  OF  JOB  111 

7  Do  ye  mean  to  defend  falsehood  in  behalf  of  God? 
Or  to  uphold  untruth  for  His  sake  ? 

8  Will  ye  be  partial  to  Him?    Will  ye  defend  God ? 

9  Will  it  be  well  with  you  when  He  searcheth  you  out  ? 

Or  do  ye  think  that  ye  could  deceive  Him  as  ye  can  men? 

10  He  will  judge  you  severely 

If  ye  secretly  show  Him  partiality. 

11  Will  ye  not  be  terrified  when  He  appeareth? 
Will  ye  not  then  be  seized  with  fear  of  Him? 

12  Your  time-honored  notions  are  rubbish. 
Your  arguments  are  as  breastworks  of  clay. 

13  Be  silent,  that  I  may  speak  —  happen  what  may. 

14  I  hold  my  life  in  my  teeth, 

Hence  I  can  afford  to  take  it  in  my  hand. 

15  If  He  killeth  me  —  well  and  good !  I  have  nothing  to  hope 

for. 
Only  my  conduct  I  desire  to  justify  to  His  face. 

16  This  indeed  hath  been  my  support ; 
For  the  godless  cannot  approach  Him. 

17  Listen  ye  to  my  words,  and  let  what  I  say  reach  your 

ears ! 

18  Behold  I  have  set  forth  a  just  case, 
I  know  that  I  am  guiltless. 

19  Who  dare  gainsay  me  ? 

Verily  then  I  should  have  to  die  in  silence. 

20  But  two  things  Thou  must  not  do  unto  me. 

Then  shall  I  not  need  to  hide  from  Thy  face  any  more : 

21  Remove  Thy  hand  from  me. 
Let  not  Thy  terror  affright  me ! 

22  Call  me,  and  I  will  answer. 

Or  let  me  speak,  and  answer  Thou  me : 

23  How  many  are  my  sins  and  my  iniquities? 
Let  me  know  my  transgression  and  my  sin ! 


112  BOOK  OF  JOB 

24  WTiy  hidest  Thou  Thy  face  ? 

Why  holdest  Thou  me  for  Thine  enemy? 

25  Wilt  Thou  scare  a  leaf  driven  by  the  wind? 
Or  wilt  Thou  pursue  dry  straw? 

26  For  Thou  hast  decreed  bitterness  for  me, 

And  makest  me  suffer  for  the  transgressions  of  my  youth. 

27  Thou  hast  put  my  feet  in  the  stocks, 
Thou  keepest  close  watch  on  all  my  ways. 
And  dost  draw  Thy  line  tight  around  my  feet. 

14 

1  Man  is  born  of  woman,   brief  is  his  life,  and  full  of 

trouble. 

2  Like  a  flower  he  unfoldeth,  and  fadeth  away ; 

Like  a  shadow  he  flitteth  past  and  hath  no  substance.* 

3  Yet  over  such  a  one  Thou  keepest  constant  watch 
And  him  Thou  dost  summon  to  judgment. 

4  Oh,  if  there  might  be  foimd  but  one  pure  man  among  the 

impure  — 
But  not  even  one  I 
6    If  his  days  are  limited,  the  number  of  his  moons  determined 

by  Thee; 
If  Thou  hast  fixed  the  bounds  beyond  which  he  cannot 

pass, 

6  Turn  Thou  away  from  him,  that  he  may  rest,^ 

That  at  least  he  may  enjoy  his  day  like  the  hired  laborer. 

7  There  is  hope  for  a  tree :  —  If  it  is  cut  down. 

It  will  sprout  anew,  and  send  forth  its  shoots  unceasingly. 

8  Even  should  its  roots  be  decayed  in  the  ground, 
And  its  stock  be  dead  in  the  soil, 

1 13.28  And  he,  as  a  rotten  thing,  consumeth,  as  a  garment  that  is 
motheaten. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  113 

9     As  soon  as  it  scenteth  water,  it  will  bud  again 
And  send  forth  sprouts  as  if  newly  planted. 

10  But  when  a  man  dieth,  no  vital  spark  is  left ; 

If  a   mortal   passeth   away,   where  is   there  a  trace  of 
him? 

11  As  the  water  disappeareth  from  the  sea. 
And  the  river  drieth  up  and  vanisheth, 

12  So  when  a  man  dieth,  he  doth  not  rise  again. 
Even  should  the  heavens  be  no  more, 

He  will  not  awake,  nor  stir  from  his  sleep. 

14  When  a  man  dieth,  doth  he  come  to  life  again  ? 
All  the  days  of  my  bondage  I  would  wait 

In  patience  until  the  change  in  my  lot  came. 

13  Oh,  that  Thou  mightst  hide  me  in  the  nether  world, 
Mighist  conceal  me  until  Thy  wrath  had  subsided ; 
That  Thou  mightst  set  a  time  when  Thou  wouldst  remem- 
ber me  in  kindness, 

15  If  Thou  didst  call  me,  I  would  answer  Thee, 
If  Thou  didst  long  for  the  work  of  Thy  hands ; 

16  For  then  wouldst  Thou  take  full  account  of  my  steps, 
Not  merely  watch  for  my  sin ; 

17  My  transgression  would  be  sealed  up,  as  in  a  bag. 
Thou  wouldst  whitewash  my  sin. 

18  But  as  the  mountain  collapseth, 

A.nd  the  rock  is  removed  from  its  place, 

19  4s  water  weareth  away  the  stone. 
And  the  ^orrent  carrieth  off  the  soil, 

Even  so  dost  Thou  destroy  the  hope  of  man. 

20  Thou  overpowerest  him  forever,  and  he  passeth  away ; 
Thou  changest  his  features,  and  castest  him  off. 

21  If  his  children  are  wealthy,  he  doth  not  know  it. 
Neither  is  he  concerned  about  them  if  they  are  poor. 

22  Only  his  kin  grieve  after  him. 
And  his  servants  mourn  for  him. 


114  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Eliphaz 
15 

1  Then  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  answered  and  said  : 

2  Doth  the  wise  man  answer  with  empty  knowledge, 
And  swell  his  chest  with  east  wind  ? 

3  Doth  he  put  forward  arguments  that  have  no  weight. 
Reasons  that  are  not  sound  ? 

4  Thou  even  underminest  the  fear  of  God,  and  utterest 

threats  against  God. 

5  It  is  thy  guilty  conscience  that  prompteth  thy  mouth, 
So  that  thou  choosest  artful  language. 

6  Thy  own  mouth  condemneth  thee,  not  I, 
Thy  own  lips  testify  against  thee. 

7  Wast  thou  born  the  first  of  men  ? 
Wast  thou  created  with  the  hills  ? 

8  Hast  thou  listened  to  wisdom 

And  made  it  thy  own  in  the  council  of  God  ? 

9  What  knowest  thou  that  we  do  not  know  ? 
What  insight  hast  thou  that  we  have  not  ? 

10  I  am  an  old,  grayhaired  man, 

More  advanced  in  years  than  thy  father. 

11  Have  the  consolations  of  God  expressed  to  thee. 

And  the  word  revealed  in  whispers,  have  they  no  weight 
with  thee? 

12  Why  doth  thy  passion  carry  thee  away? 
And  why  do  thine  eyes  flash, 

13  That  thou  turnest  thy  spirit  against  God, 
And  utterest  unheard  of  words  ? 

14  What  is  man  ?     Could  such  as  he  be  pure  ? 
Could  he  that  is  born  of  woman  be  just  ? 

15  Even  in  His  holy  ones  He  putteth  no  trust, 
And  in  His  sight  the  heavens  are  not  pure ; 


BOOK  OF  JOB  115 

16  How  much  less  he  that  is  loathsome  and  corrupt, 
Man,  who  drinketh  wickedness  like  water. 

17  I  will  impart  wisdom  to  thee,  hear  me ! 

That  which  my  mind  hath  perceived  I  will  tell, 

18  That  which  the  wise  have  recorded  —  not  kept  concealed 

—  of  the  lore  received  from  their  forefathers. 

19  To  them  alone  the  land  was  given,  no  strangers  lived  among 

them. 

20  The  wicked  man  liveth  in  trembling  all  his  life ; 
Through  all  the  years  that  are  allotted  the  tyrant 

21  His  ears  are  filled  with  dreadful  sounds ; 

The  destroyer  cometh  upon  him  when  he  feeleth  most 
secure. 

22  &  30  a    He  cannot  hope  to  escape  darkness. 

He  is  held  for  the  sword, 

23  He  is  destined  as  food  for  the  vulture ; 

He  knoweth  that  he  is  kept  ready  for  disaster. 

24  The  day  of  darkness  terrifieth  him, 

Trouble  and  anxiety  charge  on  him  like  a  king  equipped 
for  battle ; 

25  Because  his  hand  is  raised  against  God  and  he  defieth  the 

Almighty  — 

26  He  rusheth  against  Him  with  arrogant  neck. 
With  the  stout  bosses  of  his  shield ; 

27  Because  he  hath  covered  his  face  with  his  fatness, 
And  hath  it  in  abundance  upon  his  loins ; 

28  And  because  he  dwelleth  in  ruined  cities,  in  houses  for- 

bidden to  be  inhabited, 
Which  were  destined  to  become  ruins. 

29  He  will  not  remain  rich,  his  substance  will  not  last, 
And  his  harvest  will  not  bend  to  the  ground. 

30  6  c    The  scorching  heat  will  dry  up  his  branches, 

And  the  wind  will  carry  off  his  fruit. 


116  BOOK  OF  JOB 

31  6/3,  32  His  palm-leaf  will  wither  prematurely. 
His  palm-branch  will  not  flourish. 

33  He  will  wrong  his  immature  young,  as  a  vine  its  unripe 

grapes, 
Like  the  olive  tree  he  will  cast  off  his  blossoms. 

34  The  tribe  of  the  godless  man  will  be  barren, 
And  fire  will  consume  the  tents  built  with  bribes ; 

35  They  will  be  pregnant  with  trouble,  and  will  beget  misery ; 
They  will  harbor  disappointment  in  their  bosom. 

Job 

Original  Order  of  Chapters  16  and  17  and  their 
Constituent  Parts  from  Chapters  29  and  30 

16. 1-3;  17. 10;  16.4-6;  29.  2-6,  19-20,  18,  11,  7-10,  21-25 
30.  9-10,  1 ;  16.  10-11 ;  30.  11 ;  16.  7  &  1st  word  of  8 ;  17.  7,  6 
16.8-9,  12-17;  17.8-9;  30.28  6;  16.18-22;  17.3-5,  12 
30.26;  17.11;  30.  22  =  17. 1  a  G;  17.16-2;  30.24;  17.13-16 

16.  1     Job  answered  and  said : 

2  I  have  heard  enough  of  this ; 
Tiresome  comforters  are  ye  all. 

3  Is  there  no  end  to  your  windy  words  ? 
What  aileth  thee  that  thou  makest  answer? 

17.  10    No  matter  how  ye  keep  on  arguing 

I  can  find  no  wise  one  among  you. 
16.     4    I  too  might  talk  as  ye  do,  if  ye  were  in  my  place ; 
I  might  inveigh  against  you  in  elegant  phrases, 
I  might  shake  my  head  at  you, 

5  I  might  give  you  comfort  with  my  mouth, 
And  be  generous  with  my  lip-sympathy. 

6  But  if  I  speak,  my  suffering  is  not  alleviated, 
Nor  doth  it  leave  me  if  I  am  silent. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  117 

2  Oh,  for  the  return  of  the  days  that  are  gone, 
The  days  when  God  kept  guard  over  me ; 

3  When  His  lamp  shone  over  my  head, 

So  that  by  His  light  I  walked  through  darkness. 

4  Oh,  that  I  might  be  as  in  the  days  of  my  prime 
When  God  sheltered  my  tent ; 

5  When  the  Almighty  was  with  me, 
When  I  was  surrounded  by  my  boys ; 

6  When  my  steps  were  bathed  in  cream. 

When  the  rock  poured  out  to  me  streams  of  oil, 

19  When  my  roots  reached  out  to  the  waters, 
And  the  dew  lay  at  night  upon  my  harvest ; 

20  When  ever  new  glory  surrounded  me. 

And  the  bow  in  my  hand  took  on  ever  new  strength. 
18    And  I  thought  I  should  die  amidst  my  brood. 

And  should  live  to  old  age  like  the  phoenix. 
11     Yea,  the  ear  that  heard  of  me  pronounced  me  happy. 

The  eye  that  saw  me  bore  witness  to  my  worth. 

7  When  I  went  out  to  the  city  gate, 
Or  took  my  seat  in  the  marketplace, 

8  The  youths,  as  soon  as  they  saw  me,  hid, 
While  the  old  men  stood  up ; 

9  The  nobles  refrained  from  speaking. 
And  laid  their  hands  upon  their  mouths.-^ 

21  Attentively  they  listened  to  me. 
Silently  they  gave  ear  to  my  counsel. 

22  Once  I  had  spoken,  they  spoke  no  more ; 

They  showed  delight  when  my  words  were  addressed  to 
them. 

23  They  waited  for  my  speech. 

Even  as  the  parched  earth  gapeth  i'or  the  rain. 

*  Variant 

10  The  voices  of  the  nobles  became  hushe-l, 

Their  tongues  dove  to  the  roof  of  their  mouths. 


118  BOOK  OF  JOB 

24  If  I  smiled  at  them  when  they  had  lost  confidence. 
The  light  of  their  faces  remained  no  longer  overcast. 

25  WTienever  I  chose  to  take  my  way  to  them,  I  sat  at  the 

head, 
I  sat  enthroned  like  a  king  among  his  warriors. 
Like  .  .  .  I  led  them  ...  I  guided  them. 

30.     9    But  now  I  am  the  object  of  their  derisive  songs 
I  have  become  a  byword  to  them. 

10  They  abhor  me,  they  hold  aloof  from  me. 
They  do  not  refrain  from  spitting  in  my  face ; 

1    The  lowest  people  deride  me. 

People  whom  I  hold  unworthy  to  be  placed  with  the  dogs 
of  my  flock. 
16.    10    They  stare  at  me  with  open  mouth, 

They  smite  me  on  the  cheek  with  affront. 
They  are  banded  together  against  me. 

11  God    hath    given    me    into    the    power    of    impudent 

youths. 
And    hath    delivered    me    into    the    hands    of    wicked 

people. 
30.    11    Since  He  hath  loosened  my  bowstring 
And  brought  afflictions  upon  me. 
They  have  cast  off  all  restraint  in  my  presence. 

16.  7,  8  aa  He  hath  sapped  my  strength,  hath  brought  ruin  upon 

me; 
His  whole  legion  holdeth  me  fast. 

17.  7    Mine  eyes  have  grown  dim  from  weariness. 

And  my  body  hath  become  a  shadow. 
6    He  hath  made  me  a  byword  to  the  people : 
To  them  I  am  a  manifest  example. 
16.      8    I\Iy  disease  hath  arisen  as  a  maligner  and  beareth  witness 
against  me, 
It  testifieth  to  my  face. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  119 

9    He  hath  become  my  foe,  and  assailed  me  with  unrelenting 
anger. 
He  gnashed  His  teeth  at  me,  cast  murderous  glances 
at  me. 

12  I  was  prosperous  when  suddenly  He  ruined  me. 

When  He  seized  me  by  the  neck,  and   dashed   me  to 

pieces, 
When  He  set  me  up  as  His  target. 

13  His  missiles  have  rained  upon  me. 
He  hath  struck  my  reins  mercilessly. 
Hath  poured  my  gall  upon  the  ground. 

14  Blow  upon  blow  He  hath  dealt  me, 

He  hath  rushed  upon  me  like  a  warrior. 

15  I  have  tied  sackcloth  around  my  body. 
And  have  thrust  my  horn  into  the  dust. 

16  My  face  is  red  with  weeping, 

And  on  my  eyelids  is  the  shadow  of  death, 

17  Though  my  hands  have  committed  no  wrong. 
And  my  prayer  is  sincere. 

8  Let  the  upright  be  appalled  at  this. 

And    the    innocent    be    roused    to    confute    the   hypo- 
crite. 

9  Yet  the  righteous  man  will  cling  to  his  way, 

And  he  who  hath  pure  hands  will  gain  in  strength. 
28  6  I  stand  up  in  the  assembly  and  I  pray : 

18  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood ! 

And  let  there  be  no  place  for  my  outcry ! 

19  Even  now  my  witness  is  in  Heaven, 
He  that  voucheth  for  me  is  on  high. 

20  And  since  my  friends  deride  me, 
iMy  streaming  eyes  are  turned  to  God, 

21  That  He  may  plead  for  a  man  with  God, 

And  take  sides  in  the  conflict  between  a  man  and  his 
fellowmen. 


120  BOOK  OF  JOB 

22    For  the  allotted  years  near  their  end, 

And  I  shall  go  the  way  whence  I  shall  not  return. 
17.      3    Give  surety  for  me  unto  Thyself ! 

Who  else  would  pledge  himself  for  me  ? 

4  Their  minds  Thou  hast  closed  to  understanding ; 
Therefore,  canst  Thou  not  permit  them  to  triumph. 

5  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  invite  his  friends  to  a  portion, 
While  his  children  were  weeping  their  eyes  out. 

12    They  pronounce  night  day, 

In  the  face  of  darkness  they  declare  light  to  be  nigh. 

30.    26    I  was  confident  of  my  happiness  when  disaster  came, 

I  was  looking  for  light  v\^hen  darkness  set  in. 
17.    11     My  days  pass  by  as  quickly  as  thought, 

The  strings  of  my  heart  are  torn ; 
30.    22  =  17.1  a  G    The  wind  is  bearing  me  aloft,  it  is  carrying 
me  away ; 

It  will  dissolve  me  into  nothingness. 
17.      161  pray  for  the  grave,  but  find  it  not, 

2    I  pray  until  I  am  weary,  but  what  do  I  achieve  ? 
30.    24    Oh  that  I  might  lay  violent  hands  on  myself. 

Or  that  I  might  beg  another  to  do  this  for  me. 
17.    13    Verily  I  have  to  look  to  Sheol  for  my  abode, 

In  the  darkness  must  I  spread  my  bed. 

14  I    must    call    the    pit    father,    the    worms    mother    and 

sister. 

15  Where  then  is  my  hope  ? 

And  who  can  see  happiness  for  me  ? 

16  To  the  bars  of  Sheol  will  they  go  down 
When  together  we  sink  into  the  grave. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  121 

Bildad 
18 

1  Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered  and  said : 

2  How  long  wilt  thou  seek  after  rhetorical  effect  ? 
Be  sensible,  and  then  we  might  speak. 

3  Why  are  we  counted  as  brutes, 
Why  are  we  stupid  in  thine  eyes  ? 

4  Thou  who  rendest  thyself  in  thy  rage. 

Shall  the  earth  be  made  desolate  because  of  thy  outcry, 
Or  the  mountain  be  removed  from  its  place  ? 

5  Nay,  the  light  of  the  wicked  will  be  put  out. 
The  spark  of  his  fire  will  not  shine. 

6  The  light  in  his  tent  will  grow  dark. 

And  the  lamp  around  his  head  will  be  extinguished. 

7  His  firm  steps  will  be  hindered. 

And  his  own  counsel  will  bring  him  to  fall. 

8  Yea,  he  will  rush  headlong  into  the  trap. 
Upon  the  toils  he  walketh. 

9  The  trap  will  catch  him  by  the  heel. 
The  snare  will  hold  him  tight. 

10  A  rope  is  hidden  for  him  in  the  ground. 
By  the  wayside  the  pitfall  is  laid  for  him 

11  Terrors  affright  him  on  all  sides 
And  press  close  upon  his  heels. 

12  Evil  threatens  him. 

Disaster  is  near  at  hand  to  ruin  him. 

13  Disease  will  consume  his  skin. 

The  first-born  of  deadly  plagues  will  consume  his  members. 

14  He  will  be  routed  out  from  his  tent  in  which  he  placed  his 

trust, 
He  must  march  forth  to  the  king  of  terrors. 

15  Lilith  will  inhabit  his  tent. 

And  Brimstone  will  be  scattered  over  his  habitation. 


122  BOOK  OF  JOB 

16  His  roots  beneath  will  be  dried  up. 
His  harvest  above  will  wither. 

17  His  memory  will  perish  from  the  earth, 
He  will  leave  no  name  in  the  land. 

18  He  will  be  thrust  from  light  into  darkness 
And  will  be  cast  out  of  the  world. 

19  No  offspring  or  progeny  will  be  left  him  among  his  tribe, 
No  survivor  will  remain  in  his  homestead. 

20  Over  his  end  coming  generations  will  be  appalled, 
And  his  contemporaries  will  be  seized  with  shuddering. 

21  Verily,  this  will  be  the  fate  of  the  dwellings  of  the  un- 

righteous. 
This  will  befall  the  place  of  him  that  knoweth  not  God. 

Job 

Original  Order  of  Chapter  19  and  of  Its  Constituent 
Parts  from  Chapter  30 

19. 1-6,  8-10, 12  a  &  c ;  30.  12  a  &  c,  13  b,  14 ;  19.  7 ;  30.  20, 
21,  15  b-c,  15  a,  16  (27  6),  27  a,  17  6,  30  a,  17  a,  30  6;  19.  20; 
30.  28  a  ...  ,  29, 31 ;  19.  13-19,  21-29 

19.      1    And  Job  answered  and  said : 

2  How  long  will  ye  torment  my  soul. 
And  crush  me  with  your  words  ? 

3  Ten  times  have  ye  insulted  me. 
Have  wronged  me  without  blushing. 

4  Be  it  indeed  that  I  have  erred,  my  error  resteth  with  me, 

5  But  if  ye  mean  to  contemn  me  in  your  self  righteousness. 
And  seek  to  convict  me  of  shameful  sin, 

6  Know  then  that  God  hath  wronged  me 
And  drawn  His  net  close  around  me. 

8    He  hath  hemmed  in  my  path,  so  that  I  cannot  move. 
And  hath  enveloped  my  way  in  darkness ; 


BOOK  OF  JOB  123 

9    He  hath  stripped  me  of  my  honor. 

And  hath  taken  the  crown  from  my  head. 
10    He  hath  destroyed  me  utterly,  and  I  must  go ; 

He  hath  plucked  up  my  hope  like  a  tree. 
12a  kc  His  hosts  close  in  on  all  sides. 

They  are  encamped  around  my  tent. 

12  a  &  c  htmy  right  they  rise  in  swarms 

And  erect  their  sinister  ramparts  against  me 

13  6  To  effect  my  ruin. 

14  As  through  a  wide  breach  they  come. 

Wave  upon  wave,  they  sweep  in  amidst  crash  and  ruin. 
7    I  complain  of  violence,  but  I  receive  no  answer ; 
I  cry  out,  but  I  obtain  not  justice. 

20  I  cry  unto  Thee,  but  Thou  dost  not  hear  me ; 

I  stand  before  Thee,  but  Thou  regardest  me  not. 

21  Thou  hast  changed  into  a  cruel  enemy  toward  me, 
Thou  persecutest  me  with  relentless  hand. 

15  h-c  My  hope  hath  flown  away  like  the  wind. 

My  salvation  hath  vanished  like  a  cloud. 

15  o,  16  (27  h)  I  am  overwhelmed  by  terrors,   my  soul  must 
succumb ; 
My  days  of  misery  hold  me  fast.  ^ 

27  a  My  vitals  burn  at  fever-heat  without  cease ; 
17  5  The  pains  that  torment  me  take  no  rest. 

30  a,  17  a  My  blackened  skin  falleth  from  me, 

30  h  And  my  body  is  consumed  with  heat. 
20    My  bones  stick  through  my  skin, 

And  I  have  escaped  by  the  skin  of  my  teeth. 

28  a  I  walk  about  in  gloom,  .  .  . 

29  I  am  become  a  brother  to  jackals,  a  companion  to  os- 

triches. 

31  My  harp  is  turned  to  mourning. 
My  flute  to  lamentation. 


124  BOOK  OF  JOB 

19.    13    My  brethren  hold  aloof  from  me, 

And  my  acquaintances  have  estranged  themselves  from 
me. 

14  My  relatives  have  failed  me, 

And  my  familiar  friends  have  forgotten  me. 

15  My  serfs  and  maidservants  consider  me  a  stranger ; 
They  look  upon  me  as  an  alien. 

16  If  I  call  my  servant,  he  doth  not  answer, 
With  humble  words  I  must  implore  him. 

17  My  breath  is  disgusting  to  my  wife. 
And  I  am  loathsome  to  my  kinsmen. 

18  Even  insolent  youths  treat  me  with  contempt, 
When  I  rise,  they  insult  me. 

19  My  intimate  friends  abhor  me. 
Those  I  love  have  turned  against  me. 

21  Have  pity,  have  pity  on  me,  O  my  friends, 
For  the  hand  of  God  hath  struck  me. 

22  Why  do  ye  persecute  me  like  God, 

Why    can    ye    not    get    enough    of    feasting    on    my 
body? 

23  Oh,  let  my  words  be  ^Titten  down. 
Let  them  be  inscribed  in  a  book. 

24  Oh,  let  them  be  written  with  an  iron  pen  in  lead. 
Or  be  cut  in  the  rock  to  be  preserved  forever. 


C 


'25    But  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth. 
And  that  at  last  He  will  appear  on  earth. 

26  Even  after  my  skin  hath  been  torn  from  my  flesh, 
Still  will  I  cherish  the  hope  that  I  shall  see  God ; 

27  The  heart  in  my  bosom  pineth 

That  I  may  see  Him,  a  champion  in  my  behalf. 
That  mine  eyes  may  see  Him,  and  not  as  an  enemy. 

28  If  ye  say.  How  we  will  persecute  him ! 

And,  The  root  of  the  matter  is  to  be  found  in  him. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  125 

29    Then  beware  the  sins  that  bring  down  the  sword ! 
For  the  Divine  wrath  will  fall  on  the  wrongdoers  — 
Wherefore  will  ye  know  there  is  a  Judge. 

Zophar 
20 

1  And  Zophar  the  Naamathite  answered  and  said : 

2  a  My  own  reason  telleth  me  otherwise, 

3  b  My  common  sense  giveth  me  a  different  answer. 

3  a  I  must  listen  to  teaching  at  which  I  take  offense, 
2  b  Therefore  am  I  wrought  up. 

4  Knowest  thou  not  this^  from  time  immemorial, 
Since  man  hath  been  on  the  earth, 

5  That  the  triumph  of  the  wicked  is  short-lived, 

And  the  joy  of  the  godless  lasteth  but  for  a  moment. 

6  Though  his  pride  mount  up  to  the  heavens. 
And  his  head  reach  unto  the  clouds, 

7  He  will  perish  forever  like  his  own  dung : 

They  that  have  seen  him  will  say,*  What  is  left  of  him  now?' 

8  He  will  vanish  like  a  dream,  no  trace  of  him  will  be  found ; 
Like  a  vision  of  the  night  he  will  disappear. 

9  The  eye  that  saw  him  will  see  him  no  more, 
Neither  will  his  place  any  more  behold  him. 

10  His  children,  left  poor,  will  be  crushed : 
His  hands  must  give  up  his  wealth. 

11  Though  youthful  vigor  fiUeth  his  bones. 
It  will  be  buried  with  him  in  the  dust. 

12  Though  w^ickedness  tasteth  sweet  in  his  mouth, 
So  that  he  holdeth  it  on  his  tongue, 

13  That  he  spare th  it  and  will  not  let  it  go. 
But  keepeth  it  under  his  palate ; 

14  Yet  his  food  in  his  bowels  will  be  turned 
As  to  adder-venom  in  his  body. 


126  BOOK  OF  JOB 

15  He  hath  swallowed  down  riches, 
But  must  vomit  them  up ; 

God  will  cast  them  out  of  his  belly. 

16  He  will  suck  the  venom  of  adders, 
The  viper's  tongue  will  slay  him. 

17  He  will  not  look  upon  the  herds  in  the  valley. 
Nor  upon  the  flowing  streams  of  honey  and  cream. 

18  He  must  give  up  his  possessions,  he  cannot  swallow  them. 
The  wealth  which  he  got  by  barter  he  will  not  enjoy ; 

19  Because  he  hath  ground  down  the  poor  with  toil,  and  then 

cast  them  aside. 
He  hath  stolen  houses,  instead  of  building  them  himself. 

20  a  His  greed  hath  been  insatiable 


21  b    Therefore  his  prosperity  will  not  endure. 

22  In  the  fulness  of  his  prosperity  trouble  will  beset  him, 
Affliction  will  descend  upon  him  with  unsparing  hand. 

23,  25  6/8,  &  27.  22  a  God  will  cast  His  burning  wTath  upon 
him  to  fill  his  belly. 
And  will  pour  down  terrors  upon  him  without  mercy. 
20.    24,  &  27.  22  b  He  will  be  unable  to  flee    from    the    iron 
weapon, 
The  bow  of  brass  will  pierce  him  through. 
20.    25    The  missile  will  penetrate  his  back, 

The  glittering  sword  will  enter  his  gall. 
26,  20  b,  21  a  Utter  darkness  is  in  store  for  those  whom  he 
cherisheth. 
Fire  not  blown  by  human  breath  will  consume  them. 
No  survivor  will  be  left  in  his  tent. 
28    The  foundations  of  his  house  will  be  laid  bare. 

They  will  be  destroyed  forever  on  the  day  of  God's  wrath. 
27    So  Heaven  will  reveal  his  iniquity. 
And  the  earth  will  rise  up  against  him. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  127 

Job 

Original  Order  of  21  +  22.  17-18,  and  24.  1-18,  22-23, 

25  (30.  2-8) 

21.  1-3,  5-14;  22.  17  6,  21.  15;  21.  16  a,  22.  18  o,  21. 
166,  17,  24.  18  6,  21.  18-26,  28-30;  24.  18  a,  22  a,  23;  21.  31, 
32  o,  33  6,  33  a,  32  6,  34,  27;  24.  1-3,  9,  4-8,  10-11,  13-14, 16- 
17,  12,  25. 

1  Then  Job  answered  and  said : 

2  Listen  well  to  my  words ; 

Let  this  be  the  consolation  ye  give. 

3  Suffer  me  to  speak : 

After  I  have  spoken  ye  will  mock  no  more. 

5  Give  heed  to  me  and  be  dumbfounded. 
And  lay  your  fingers  upon  your  lips. 

6  When  I  think  of  it,  I  am  aghast. 
And  shudders  creep  over  my  flesh. 

7  Wherefore  do  the  wicked  live. 
Grow  old,  yea,  wax  mighty  in  power? 

8  Their  posterity  is  established  with  them. 
Their  offspring  flourish  before  their  eyes ; 

9  Their  houses  are  safe  from  disaster. 

The  rod  of  God  descendeth  not  upon  them. 

10  Their  bull  gendereth  and  doth  not  show  aversion ; 
Their  cow  calveth,  and  casteth  not  the  calf. 

11  They  let  their  boys  frolic  like  lambs. 
Their  children  dance  about  merrily ; 

12  They  sing  to  the  timbrel  and  harp. 
And  rejoice  to  the  sound  of  the  flute. 

13  They  spend  their  days  in  comfort. 
And  in  peace  they  go  down  to  Sheol, 

14  The  while  they  say  unto  God :  *  Begone  I 
We  do  not  care  to  know  Thy  ways ; 


128  BOOK  OF  JOB 

22.    17  6,  21.  15     What  doeth  the  Almighty  for  us  that  we  should 
serve  Him  ? 

And  what  would  it  profit  us  if  we  prayed  to  Him  ? ' 
21.    16  a,  22.  18  a,  21.  16  6    Truly,  their  prosperity  is  not  wrought 
by  their  own  hands ; 

He  filleth  their  houses  with  wealth  — 

Far  be  from  me  the  view  taken  by  the  wicked. 
21.    17    How  often  is  it  that  the  light  of  the  wicked  is  extinguished, 

Or  that  calamity  befalleth  them, 

That  God  distributeth  sorrows  to  them  in  His  anger, 
24.    18  6  That  their  lot  on  earth  is  accursed,  .  .  . 
21.    18    That  they  become  like  straw  driven  by  the  wind, 

Like  chaff  which  the  storm  carrieth  away  ? 

19  God  layeth  up  for  a  man's  children  the  disaster  due  him 

(is  the  saying) ; 
Let  Him  pay  it  to  the  man  himself  that  he  may  feel  it. 

20  His  eye  should  see  his  own  destruction, 

He  should  drink  of  the  fury  of  the  Almighty. 

21  For  what  careth  he  for  his  family  after  him. 
When  the  number  of  his  months  is  completed  ? 

22  Doth  God  practise  discrimination  ? 
Doth  He  judge  in  His  abode  on  high  ? 

23  One  dieth  in  perfect  comfort. 
Completely  prosperous  and  at  ease, 

24  His  pails  full  of  milk. 

And  the  marrow  of  his  bones  well  nourished. 

25  Another  dieth  sad  of  soul. 
Who  never  tasted  happiness. 

26  Alike  they  are  laid  in  the  grave. 
And  worms  cover  them. 

28  Ye  say,  '  Where  is  the  house  of  the  despot. 
And  where  are  the  habitations  of  the  wicked  ? ' 

29  Have  ye  not  asked  travellers  ? 

And  will  ye  disregard  their  evidence 


BOOK  OF  JOB  129 

30,  24.  18  a  That  on  the  day  of  calamity  the  wicked  man  is 
spared, 
That  on  the  day  of  wrath  he  is  light  upon  the  surface  of 
the  water  ? 

22  a  The  tyrant  liveth  long,  he  remaineth  in  his  strength ; 

23  He  enjoyeth  safety  and  is  full  of  hope. 
And  the  eyes  of  God  watch  over  his  ways. 

31  Who  then  caste th  his  conduct  up  to  his  face. 
Or  who  requiteth  him  for  what  he  doeth  ? 

32  a  Nay  he  is  carried  to  the  grave  in  pomp, 

33  b  And  every  man  followeth  his  bier.  ^ 

33  a  The  clods  of  the  valley  are  sweet  unto  him, 
32  b  And  care  is  taken  of  his  tomb. 

34  How  then  can  ye  comfort  me  with  delusions? 
Your  answers  remain  infamy. 

27    I  see  through  your  thoughts. 

Through  your  cunning  thoughts,  with  which  ye  wrong  me. 

24.  1-17,  25  (30.  2-8) 

1  Why  are  not  sessions  of  judgment  set  apart  by  the  Al- 

mighty? 
Why  do  they  that  know  Him  not  see  His  days  ? 

2  There  are  those  that  commit  land-robbery. 
That  steal  herds  with  their  shepherd ; 

3  That  carry  off  the  donkey  of  the  orphan. 
And  seize  the  ox  of  the  widow ; 

9    That  even  take  the  orphan  from  the  mother's  breast, 
And  attach  the  infant  of  the  poor ; 

4  That  thrust  aside  the  needy. 
The  poor  of  the  land  must  hide 

5  Lonely  as  wild  asses  in  the  wilderness 
They  go  forth  to  their  labor ; 

1  And  before  him  they  are  without  number. 


130  BOOK  OF  JOB 

They  must  hunt  the  desert  for  sustenance, 
There  is  no  harvest  for  the  homeless. 

6  They  must  harvest  fields  that  are  not  theirs, 
The  vineyard  of  the  wicked  they  must  pick  clean. 

7  Naked  must  they  pass  the  night  for  lack  of  clothes, 
They  have  no  covering  from  the  cold. 

8  They  are  drenched  by  the  downpour  of  the  mountains, 
They  must  embrace  the  bare  rock  for  want  of  shelter. 

10  They  must  go  naked,  without  garments, 
Hungry,  they  must  carry  the  sheaves. 

11  Shut  in  by  walls,  they  must  press  the  oil, 
Thirsty,  they  must  tread  the  wine-press.^ 

13  There  are  still  others  that  shun  the  daylight. 
That  know  not  its  path,  that  abide  not  in  its  way ; 

14  In  the  dark  the  murderer  riseth, 
Killeth  the  poor  and  the  needy ; 

And  the  thief  goeth  about  in  the  night,^ 

16  He  breaketh  into  the  houses  under  cover  of  the  dark. 
By  day  they  shut  themselves  up. 

They,  neither  of  them,  care  for  the  light. 

17  Black  night  taketh  with  them  the  place  of  the  morning ; 
Indeed,  they  know  well  the  terrors  of  the  darkness :  — 

1 30.  2    ... 

3  ...  in  want  and  gaunt  famine, 
Who  gnaw  the  dry  desert  ground, 
.  .  .  desolation  and  waste ; 

4  Who  pluck  salt-wort  and  artemisia, 

The  roots  of  the  broom-shrub  are  their  food. 

5  They  are  driven  out  of  hearth  and  home, 
One  shouteth  at  them  as  at  thieves. 

6  They  must  dwell  in  frightful  hovels, 
In  holes  of  the  earth  and  of  the  rocks. 

7  Cowering  among  bushes  they  groan, 
Under  nettles  they  are  huddled  together. 

8  As  pariahs,  enjoying  no  caste. 
They  are  thrust  out  of  the  land. 

*  15     And  the  eye  of  the  adulterer  watcheth  for  the  dusk, 

He  putteth  a  mask  over  his  face  saying  no  eye  shall  spy  me. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  131 

12    Out  of  the  city  come  the  groans  of  the  dying, 

And  the  cries  of  the  souls  of  the  slain,  calling  for  vengeance. 
Yet  God  taketh  no  umbrage. 

25    And  since  He  doth  not,  who  will  accuse  me  of  falsehood, 
Or  show  my  words  to  be  empty  ? 

Eliphaz 
22.  1,  3-16;  27.  13-21,  23;  22.  19-30. 

1    Then  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  answered  and  said : 

3  Is  it  to  the  interest  of  the  Almighty  that  thou  art  righteous  ? 
Or  is  it  any  profit  to  Him  that  thou  makest  thy  ways 

perfect  ? 

4  Is  it  for  thy  fear  of  God  that  He  chasteneth  thee, 
That  He  meteth  out  judgment  to  thee  ? 

5  Must  not  thy  wickedness  be  great, 
And  thy  sins  without  end  ? 

6  Thou  hast  attached  thy  brother's  holdings  unjustly, 
And  hast  stripped  people  naked ; 

7  Thou  hast  not  given  water  to  those  that  were  faint. 
And  from  the  hungry  thou  hast  withheld  thy  bread. 

8  That  the  man  of  power  might  possess  the  land. 
And  the  man  of  eminence  dwell  therein, 

9  Thou  hast  sent  away  widows  empty-handed 
And  thou  hast  crushed  the  arm  of  the  orphan. 

10  Therefore  snares  are  round  about  thee, 

And  sudden  disaster  striketh  thee  with  terror. 

11  Thy  light  hath  grown  dark,  so  that  thou  canst  not  see. 
And  the  deluge  hath  engulfed  thee. 

12  Is  not  God  exalted  even  as  the  heavens? 
Behold  the  starry  dome,  how  high  it  is ! 

13  Yet  thou  askest,  'What  doth  God  know? 
Doth  He  judge  behind  the  clouds  ? ' 


132  BOOK  OF  JOB 

14  Clouds  envelop  Him,  so  that  He  doth  not  see ! 
And  He  walketh  along  the  vault  of  the  heavens ! 

15  Wilt  thou  keep  to  the  old  road  that  wicked  men  have 

trodden, 

16  \^^o  are  snatched  away  before  their  time. 

Under  whose  feet  the  ground  floweth  away  as  swiftly  as 
a   stream? 

27.    13    This  is  the  portion  meted  out  to  the  wicked  man  by 
God, 
The  share  which  the  tyrant  receiveth  from  the  Almighty. 

14  If  his  sons  be  many,  it  is  that  they  may  he  delivered  to  the 

sword. 
And  his  offspring  will  not  be  satisfied  with  bread. 

15  Those  that  remain  of  him  will  be  buried,  victims  of  the 

plague. 
And  their  widows  will  not  weep. 

16  Though  he  heap  up  silver  like  dust 
And  pile  up  raiments  like  clay, 

17  He  will  only  pile  them  up  — the   righteous    will  wear 

them 
And  the  innocent  will  divide  the  silver. 

18  He  hath  built  his  home  as  frail  as  a  spider-web, 
Like  a  hut  put  up  for  a  guard. 

19  He  will  lie  down  rich,  but  will  not  do  so  again ; 
When  he  openeth  his  eyes,  he  will  be  no  more. 

20  Terrors  will  overtake  him  as  swift  as  water, 
The  tempest  will  carry  him  off  in  the  night. 

21  The  east  wind  will  whhl  him  aloft. 
And  sweep  him  away  from  his  place. 

23    INIen  will  clap  theh  hands  at  him. 
They  will  deride  him  in  his  place. 
22.    19    The  righteous  will  see  it  and  rejoice, 
The  innocent  will  mock  at  him. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  133 

20  Verily,  our  enemies  will  be  effaced, 

And  the  fire  will  consume  what  they  leave. 

21  Become  reconciled  with  Him  and  be  at  peace, 
Thereby  good  will  come  unto  thee. 

22  Accept  the  instruction  from  His  mouth 
And  bear  His  words  in  thy  heart. 

23  If  thou  wilt  return  to  the  Almighty,  and  humble  thyself 

before  Him, 
If  thou  wilt  put  unrighteousness  far  from  thy  tent, 

24  And  cast  gold-ore  in  the  dust, 
Ophir-gold  among  the  pebbles  of  the  brook, 

25  And  wilt  let  the  Almighty  be  thy  gold-ore  and  glittering 

silver  bars, 

26  Verily,  then  mayest  thou  find  delight  in  the  Almighty, 
And  mayest  lift  up  thy  face  unto  God. 

27  When  thou  prayest  unto  Him,  he  will  hear  thee. 
And  thou  wilt  have  occasion  to  fulfil  thy  vows. 

28  If  thou  formest  a  plan,  it  will  succeed. 
And  the  light  will  shine  upon  thy  ways. 

29  He  that  humbleth  himself  will  be  exalted. 
He  that  is  meek  will  be  saved. 

30  The  innocent  man  will  be  delivered. 

He  will  be  delivered  through  the  cleanness  of  his  hands. 

Joh 

27.  1-8;  31.  2-3;  27.  9-12;  23.  11-12;  31.  1;  29.  14-17, 
12;  31.  18,  32;  29.  13;  31.  5,  7-12  a,  38-40, 12  b,  13,  15-17; 
30.  25;  31.  19-22,  24-31,  33-34,  14,  23;  23.  3-7,  10;  31.  4, 
35-37,  6. 

27.     1    Job  answered  and  said : 

2     As  God  liveth  who  hath  robbed  me  of  my  right. 
The  Almighty,  who  hath  grieved  my  soul. 


134  BOOK  OF  JOB 

3  As  long  as  my  spirit  is  within  me, 
The  breath  of  God  in  my  nostrils, 

4  Verily,  my  lips  shall  not  speak  untruth. 
Nor  my  tongue  utter  falsehood. 

5  God  forbid  that  I  should  grant  that  ye  are  right; 
Till  I  die,  I  will  not  part  with  my  integrity. 

6  My  righteousness  I  hold  fast, 
And  will  not  let  it  go. 

JNly  heart  need  not  blame  any  of  my  days. 

7  May  my  enemy  fare  like  the  wicked. 
My  adversary  like  the  unrighteous ! 

8  For  what  would  be  the  hope  of  the  godless 

If  God  were  to  cut  off,  were  to  pluck  out  his  life  ? 
31.      2    What  fellowship  hath  he  with  God  on  high, 

What    communion    with    the    Almighty    in   the  heavens 
above  ? 
3    Is  He  not  a  terror  for  the  wicked, 
A  dread  for  evil-doers  ? 
27.      9    Will  God  hear  his  cry  when  trouble  cometh  to  him  ? 

10  Or  will  he  find  delight  in  the  Almighty, 
Be  able  to  call  unto  God  at  all  times  ? 

11  I  can  show  you  who  is  in  the  hand  of  God, 

Reveal  to  you  who  liveth  in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty. 

12  Verily,  all  of  you  behold  him  — 

Why  then  do  ye  hold  to  your  delusions? 
23.    11     My  foot  hath  held  fast  to  His  path. 

His  way  have  I  kept  and  swerved  not  therefrom. 
12    I  have  not  departed  from  the  command  of  His  lips, 

I  have  cherished  the  behests  of  His  mouth  in  my  bosom. 
31.     1     I  have  made  a  covenant  with  mine  eyes, 

I  have  never  looked  with  lust  on  a  maid. 
29.    14    I  am  attired  in  righteousness, 

]\Iy  uprightness  adorneth  me  as  a  robe  and  a  turban. 
15    I  have  been  eyes  to  the  blind,  feet  to  the  lame. 


BOOK  OF  JOB  135 

16  I  have  been  a  father  to  the  poor, 

I  have  searched  the  cause  of  those  that  were  strangers  to  me. 

17  I  have  smashed  the  jaws  of  the  evil-doer. 
And  snatched  the  prey  out  of  his  teeth.  ^ 

12  I  have  saved  the  poor  from  the  tyrant. 

And  the  orphan  who  had  none  to  protect  him. 

18  Yea,  from  my  early  youth  I  have  brought  him  up  as 

would  a  father. 
From  my  mother's  womb  I  have  guided  him. 
32    The  stranger  hath  not  passed  the  night  out-doors, 
I  have  kept  open  my  doors  for  the  wayfarer. 

13  The  blessing  of  the  wretched  hath  been  bestowed  upon  me, 
I  have  gladdened  the  heart  of  the  widow. 

5    If  I  have  walked  in  the  path  of  falsehood. 
And  my  feet  have  run  after  deceit, 

7  If  my  steps  have  swerved  from  the  path 

And  my  heart  hath  followed  the  lust  of  mine  eyes ; 
If  any  stain  doth  stick  to  my  hand, 

8  Then  let  me  sow  and  let  another  reap, 
Let  the  produce  of  my  soil  be  uprooted. 

9  If  my  heart  was  ever  infatuated  by  a  woman, 
And  I  lay  in  wait  at  my  neighbor's  door, 

10  Then  let  my  wife  grind  grain  for  another. 
Let  others  bow  down  to  embrace  her  — 

11  For  that  is  a  crime,  a  heinous  sin, 

12  a  It  is  a  fire  that  consumeth  even  unto  hell. 

38  If  my  land  crieth  out  against  me, 
And  all  its  furrows  weep ; 

39  If  I  ate  the  fruit  thereof  without  paying  for  it. 
Or  if  I  snuffed  out  the  life  of  its  owners ; 

40  Then  let  thistles  grow  up  instead  of  wheat 
And  weeds  instead  of  barley, 

12  6  Let  all  the  growth  of  it  be  rooted  out. 


136  BOOK  OF  JOB 

13    If  I  respected  not  the  right  of  my  man-servant 

Or  of  my  maid-servant  when  they  made  claims  against  me — 

15  Did  not  He  that  created  me  in  the  womb  create  him  too  ? 
Did  not  One  God  fashion  us  both  in  the  womb  ?  — 

16  If  I  ever  refused  the  poor  aught  for  which  they  prayed, 
Or  suffered  the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  pine  away ; 

17  If  I  ever  ate  my  bread  alone. 

And  shared  it  not  with  the  orphan ; 
25     If  I  wept  not  with  him  whose  days  were  troubled, 
If  my  soul  grieved  not  with  the  needy ; 

19  If  I  ever  saw  a  wretched  person  without  clothing, 
A  poor  man  without  garments, 

20  And  his  body  did  not  bless  me 

When  he  was  warmed  by  the  wool  of  my  sheep ; 

21  If  I  ever  shook  my  fist  at  an  orphan, 

Even  though  I  saw  ready  support  in  the  court : 

22  Then  let  my  shoulder  blade  drop  from  my  shoulder. 
And  my  arm  be  rent  from  the  socket. 

24  If  I  ever  placed  my  reliance  upon  gold. 
Or  called  fine  gold  my  hope ; 

25  If  I  rejoiced  because  my  wealth  was  great, 
Because  my  hands  had  acquired  riches  in  abundance ; 

26  &  27    If  my  heart  was  ever  mysteriously  enticed, 

And  my  hand  touched  my  lips  to  waft  a  kiss 
When  I  saw  the  sunlight  shining  brightly, 
Or  the  moon  growing  luminous  — 

28  That  too  would  have  been  a  grave  sin. 

For  I  should  have  been  denying  God  above  — 

29  If  I  ever  rejoiced  over  the  misfortune  of  my  enemy. 
Or  triumphed  when  evil  befell  him  — 

30  Rather,  I  allowed  not  my  mouth  to  sin  by  cursing  him, 

31  Even  when  the  inmates  of  my  tent  said, 

*  Oh,  that  we  might  have  the  opportunity  to  feast  without 
stint  on  his  body  j ' 


BOOK  OF  JOB  137 

33  If  I  hid  transgressions,  as  men  are  wont  to  do. 
If  I  sought  to  conceal  iniquity  in  my  bosom, 

34  Truly  I  should  have  to  dread  the  great  crowd 
The  contempt  of  the  people  would  terrify  me, 

I  should  have  to  be  silent,  I  could  not  venture  out  of 
doors. 
14    And  what  should  I  do  when  God  appeareth. 

When  He  visiteth  the  earth,  what  should  I  answer  Him  ? 
23    Verily,  the  fear  of  God  would  overcome  me, 

I  could  not  endure  the  apparition. 

3  Oh  that  I  might  know  how  to  find  Him ! 
Oh  that  I  might  get  to  His  abode, 

4  So  that  I  could  plead  my  just  cause  before  Him, 
And  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments ! 

5  Oh  that  I  might  understand  the  words  with  which  He 

would  answer  me. 
That  I  might  comprehend  what  He  would  say  unto  me ! 

6  Would  He  contend  with  me  with  overwhelming  power  ? 
Oh  if  He  would  only  pay  heed  unto  me ! 

7  Then  would  an  upright  man  plead  with  Him, 
And  I  should  forever  obtain  my  right. 

10    For  He  knoweth  my  ways  and  my  conduct  — 

When  He  testeth  me,  I  shall  prove  true  as  gold. 
4    Doth  He  not  see  my  ways,  and  count  all  my  steps  ? 

35  Would  that  He  might  hear  me ! 

I  stake  my  life  on  it  that  the  Almighty  will  hear  my  prayer. 

36  Then  verily  will  I  carry  upon  my  shoulders 

The  bill  of  indictment  that  my  opponent  hath  preferred, 
I  will  adorn  myself  with  it  as  with  a  crown ; 
37^    I  will  account  to  Him  for  every  one  of  my  steps, 
Like  a  prince  will  I  approach  Him. 
He  will  weigh  me  in  the  balance  of  righteousness ; 
God  will  acknowledge  my  integrity. 


138  BOOK  OF  JOB 

Bildad 

25.  1 ;  35.  2-3,  6-8 ;  34.  10  6-12,  13  b,  18-19  h,  30, 14, 25  6a, 
24  a,  20  c,  24  6,  20  a,  25  6/3,  20  6y8,  20  ha,  25  aa,  26  aa,  28 ;  35.9 ; 
34.  21(G),  22;  35.  14;  34.  23,  29;  36.  23;  34.  16,  17(G); 
36.  5  a,  17  (G),  15 ;  35.  13,  36,  12  a  (G),  &  first  word  of  36. 13, 
36.  12  6  (G),  34.  27  6,  36.  13 ;  35. 10 ;  36.  14, 16, 17,  21,  24, 25, 
22,  27  a,  28  6,  31;  37.  6  a,  7-10,  14-18;  36.  28  6(G);  35.  5; 
37.24;  25.2-6;  24.24,19-20. 

25.      1     Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered  and  said : 
35.      2    Dost  thou  consider  it  a  proof  of  innocence 

When  thou  sayest,  *I  shall  be  found  righteous  before 
God?' 
3    Dost  thou  think  it  right  to  say, 

'What  profiteth  it  me,  what  availeth  it  that  I  have  not 
sinned  ? ' 

6  If  thou  sinnest  what  injury  causest  thou  Him  ? 

Even  if    thy  transgressions  are  many  what  doest   thou 
unto  Him  ? 

7  And  if  thou  art  righteous  what  givest  thou  Him, 
What  receiveth  He  from  thy  hands  ? 

8  A  man  such  as  thou,  he  may  be  harmed  by  thy  wicked- 

ness, 
A  human  being  may  be  benefited  by  thy  righteousness. 
34.    10  6  Far  be  it  from  God  to  do  wickedness, 

From  the  Almighty,  to  work  unrighteousness. 

11  Nay,  He  requiteth  a  man  his  deeds, 

He  maketh  each  man  to  find  accordmg  to  his  ways. 

12  Verily,  God  condemneth  not  wrongly. 
The  Almighty  perverteth  not  justice ; 

13  6  He  who  hath  made  the  universe,  the  earth,  and  all  that 

is  therein, 
18    Who  saith  to  a  king,  thou  art  vile. 
Or  to  nobles,  ye  are  wicked ; 


BOOK  OF  JOB  139 

19  Who  respecteth  not  princes, 

Nor  regardeth  the  high-born  more  than  the  lowly/ 
30    He  setteth  up  a  godless  man  as  ruler 

Because  of  the  stubbornness  of  the  people. 
14    When  He  chooseth  to  take  back  His  spirit 

And  to  gather  His  breath  unto  Himself, 
25  ba,  24  a  He  will  overturn  the  mighty  unawares, 

20  c  And  remove  the  tyrants,  but  not  with  human  hand ; 
24  b  In  their  places  He  will  set  others. 

20  a,  25  bl3,  20  6/3  Of  a  sudden  they  will  die, 

In  the  deep  of  the  night  they  will  be  destroyed  and  pass 

away; 
20  6a,  25  aa,  26  aa  The  people  will  be  staggered  when  they  see 

the  terror. 

28  The  cry  of  the  poor  will  reach  Him, 
He  will  hear  the  complaint  of  the  needy 

9    When  they  cry  out  against  great  oppression, 

When  they  pray  to  be  delivered  out  of  the  power  of  the 
mighty. 
21(G)  For  He  seeth  them  that  work  evil. 

And  naught  that  they  do  is  hidden  from  Him. 

22  They  that  practice  iniquity  may  not  hide 
Under  cover  of  darkness  or  the  shadow  of  death. 

14    Although  thou  say  est  that  thou  seest  it  not. 
His  province  is  it  to  render  judgment, 
And  thou  must  wait  in  fear  and  trembling  for  Him. 

23  For  not  to  man  hath  He  given  the  right 
To  approach  God  to  demand  a  tribunal. 

29  If  He  be  silent,  who  can  condemn  Him  ? 

And  if  He  hide  His  face,  whether  from  a  nation  or  from 

a  man. 
Who  can  reprove  Him  ? 

*  For  they  are  all  the  work  of  his  hands. 


140  BOOK  OF  JOB 

23    \Mio  can  call  Him  to  account  for  His  ways  ? 

Who  can  say  unto  Him,  *Thou  hast  wrought  unrighteous- 
ness ? ' 

16    If  thou  art  wise,  hear  this, 

And  pay  heed  to  my  words ! 
17(GA)  Surely  thou    dost    not  think  that  thou  art  forever 
righteous. 
Because  thou  hatest  iniquity  and  destroyest  the  wicked. 
5  a(G)  Know  that  God  rejecteth  not  the  guiltless  man, 
17(G)   Nor  withlioldeth  He  justice  from  the  just. 

15  He  delivereth  the  sufferer  from  trouble, 
And  openeth  His  ear  to  him  in  his  affliction. 

13  (36.  12a  G)  But  the  cry  of  the  impious  God  will  not  hear. 
The  Almighty  will  not  deliver  them ; 

12  b  (G)  For  they  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  God, 
27  h  Neither  do  they  comprehend  His  ways. 

13  Though  they  have  been  chastened,  they  heed  not, 
They  do  not  pray  when  He  bindeth  them, 

10    Nor  say,  'Where  is  God,  our  jNIaker, 
Who  giveth  songs  in  the  night  ? ' 

14  They  die  in  youth,  their  life  perisheth  among  the  un- 

clean. 

16  Boundless  pride  hath  beguiled  thee. 

And  the  comfort  of  thy  table  laden  with  fat  foods. 

17  Now  hast  thou  thy  fill  of  the  judgment  that  pursueth  the 

wicked. 
Just  judgment  hath  laid  hold  on  thee. 


21     Beware  lest  thou  turn  to  sin ! 

Yea,  for  that  hast  thou  been  tried  with  affliction. 

24    Remember  that  thou  magnify  His  work 
Whereof  men  have  sung ; 


BOOK  OF  JOB  141 

25    All  men  behold  it,  they  see  it  from  afar, 
22    Verily  God  is  exalted  in  His  might, 
Who  is  to  be  feared  like  Him  ? 

27  a  He  draweth  up  the  drops  of  water, 

28  b  They  fall  as  rain  upon  many  men. 

31     He  pro  vide  th  food  therewith  for  the  people, 
Giveth  food  in  abundance. 

6  a  He  saith  to  the  snow,  '  Fall  thou  on  the  earth ! ' 

7  Then  He  sealeth  up  the  hand  of  every  man, 
That  all  men  may  know  His  works ; 

8  The  beasts  seek  shelter. 
And  remain  in  their  lairs ; 

9  Out  of  the  chambers  of  the  Southern  sky  cometh  the  storm. 
And  cold  from  the  Arctic  circle : 

10    By  the  breath  of  God  ice  is  formed, 

And  the  wide  waters  become  a  solid  mass. 

14  Hark  to  all  this,  hold. 
Ponder  the  wonders  of  God ! 

15  Dost  thou  know  how  God  hath  given  them  His  commands. 
How  He  maketh  the, lightning  flash  forth  from  His  clouds? 

16  Dost  thou  know  what  keepeth  the  clouds  poised. 
Understand  the  wonders  of  Absolute  Wisdom  — 

17  Thou  whose  clothes  are  warm 

When  the  earth  lieth  still  before  the  South  wind  ? 

18  Canst  thou,  like  Him,  spread  out  the  skies. 
Firm  as  a  molten  mirror  ? 

28  6(G)  Doth  not  thy  spirit  marvel  at  all  this, 
And  is  not  thy  heart  stirred  within  thee  ? 
5    Look  unto  the  heavens  and  see. 

Behold  the  banks  of  clouds — how  far  they  are  beyond  thee. 
24    Therefore  do  men  fear  Him ; 

All  fear  Him  that  are  wise  of  heart. 
2    Dominion  is  His  and  fear  is  His  due 

Who  hath  established  harmony  in  His  heavens  above. 


142  BOOK  OF  JOB 

3  Is  there  any  limit  to  His  hosts  ? 

And  on  whom  doth  His  light  not  shine? 

4  How  can  man  be  just  before  God? 

How  can  he  be  pure  that  is  born  of  woman  ? 

5  Even  the  moon  hath  no  luster, 

And  the  stars  have  no  brightness  in  His  eyes. 

6  How  much  less  men,  who  are  but  maggots, 
I  Man,  the  earthborn,  who  is  but  a  worm  ? 

24  (  Exalted  though  they  be. 

In  a  little  while  they  are  no  more ; 

They  are  brought  low  and  like  all  others  pass  away, 

Like  the  ears  of  grain  they  are  cut  off. 
19*1  brought  and  heat  carry  off  the  snow  waters, 

Even  so  doth  Sheol  the  sinner. 
20    The  lap  that  cherished  him  will  forget  him ; 

His  greatness  will  no  longer  be  remembered. 

And  wickedness  will  be  broken  like  a  tree. 

Joh 

26.  1(  =  23.  1);  23.2;  26.2-4;  37.1-2;  36.  26  a,  37.  5  6, 
36.  26  6,  27  h,  28  a,  29-30,  32 ;  37.  3-5  a,  6  h,  11-13,  21-22 ;  26. 
6-11,  5,  12-14;  37.  23;  23.  8-9;  37.  20;  23.  13-15,  17;  28. 
1-13,  21,  14,  22-28. 

1  (  =  23.  1)     And  Job  answered  and  said: 

2  Indeed,  I  know  that  my  chastisement  hath  come  from 

Him;i 
His  hand  is  heavy — more  heavy  than  my  groans  can  express. 

2  What  a  help  thou  hast  been  to  one  without  strength ! 
What  support  thou  hast  lent  to  a  powerless  arm ! 

3  What  counsels  thou  hast  given  to  one  void  of  knowledge ! 
What  an   abundance  of  profound  wisdom  thou  hast  re- 
vealed ! 

*  Or  from  the  Almighty. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  143 

4    To  whom  hast  thou  taught  anything  ? 

And  whose  spirit  hath  gone  forth  from  thee  ? 

1  My  heart  is  awed  at  these  wonders,  too, 
It  leapeth  within  me 

2  When  I  harken  to  the  rumbHng  of  His  thunder 
And  the  roar  from  His  mouth. 

26  a,  37.  5  b     Lo,    God    is   exalted,  wondrous    things    He 
worketh,  which  we  cannot  comprehend, 

26  b  The  number  of  His  years  is  unsearchable. 

27  b  He  distilleth  rain  from  His  mist, 

28  a  Which  the  skies  pour  down. 

29  Who  can  understand  what  keepeth  the  clouds  balanced. 
Or  comprehend  the  poise  of  His  pavilion  ? 

30  Behold,  He  spreadeth  out  His  mist  around  Him, 
And  covereth  with  it  the  mountain  tops. 

32    He  wrappeth  the  lightning  about  His  hands 
And  directeth  it  to  its  goal. 

3  He  sendeth  it  tlu*ough  the  whole  heavens, 

His  lightning  reacheth  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

4  a  In  its  wake  there  is  a  furious  roaring, 

4  6,  5  a  God  thundereth  with  a  majestic  voice. 

4  c  He    stayeth    not    the  rainpour   when    His    thunder   is 

heard, 
6  b  The  torrents  of  rain  become  heavier. 

11  When  the  clouds  send  forth  His  lightning, 

He  hurleth  the  thunder-bolt  through  the  clouded  sky ; 

12  At  His  direction,  it  followeth  its  zigzag  course. 

To  carry  out  on   His  inhabited  earth  whatsoever  He 
commandeth  it, 

13  Whether  He  maketh  it  to  descend  as  a  scourge  or  for 

the  sake  of  mercy. 
21-22    All  the  while  the  sunlight  hath  not  been  visible, 
It  hath  been  obscured  by  the  clouds ; 
But  when  the  wind  riseth  from  the  North 


144  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

And  cleareth  them  away,  it  cometh  out  in  golden  splendor. 
An  awful  majesty  adorneth  God. 

26.      6    Sheol  lieth  bare  before  Him, 
The  nether  world  is  unveiled. 

7  He  hath  arched  the  North  over  the  void, 
Hath  suspended  the  earth  over  the  vacuum. 

8  He  hath  bound  up  the  water  in  His  clouds. 
Yet  the  clouds  burst  not  under  its  weight. 

9  He  hath  veiled  the  throne  by  spreading  His  clouds  around  it. 

10  He  hath  arched  the  dome  of  heaven  over  the  deep. 
Where  light  and  darkness  border  on  each  other. 

11  The  pillars  of  the  sky  tremble 
And  are  confounded  at  his  rebuke. 

5    The  shades  beneath  shudder. 
The  water  and  its  denizens. 

12  By  His  might  the  sea  was  stilled. 
By  His  wisdom  Rahab  was  smitten. 

13  At  His  breath  the  sky  was  cleared. 
His  hand  slew  the  fleeing  dragon. 

14  Behold,  these  are  but  the  outer  edges  of  His  ways, 
Only  a  whisper  of  Him  do  we  catch ; 

Who  can  perceive  the  thunder  of  His  Omnipotence  ? 
37.    23    The  Almighty  we  cannot  find. 

He  that  is  almighty  in  power  and  supreme  in  justice, 

He  that  aboundeth  in  righteousness,  giveth  no  accounting. 
23.    18    If  I  go  to  the  East,  He  is  not  there. 

To  the  West,  I  cannot  perceive  Him ; 
9    If  I  seek  Him  in  the  North,  I  cannot  behold  Him, 

Nor  can  I  see  Him  by  turning  to  the  South. 
37.    20    When  He  ordaineth  that  one  be  destroyed, 

Could  a  writ  or  a  recorder  plead  my  case. 

So  that  I  might  approach  and  silence  Him, 

As  I  should  a  human  being? 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  145 

23.    13    And  since  He  hath  thus  ordained  for  me,  who  can  re- 
strain Him? 
What  He  desireth  He  will  do. 

14  Yea  He  will  execute  His  decree 

And  many  others  which  He  hath  in  mind. 

15  Therefore  I  am  confounded  before  Him, 

(G)  Because  I  know  not  why  the  affliction  hath  come  upon  me ; 

When  I  think  of  it,  I  am  dismayed ; 
17     I  am  overwhelmed  by  the  darkness, 

By  the  heavy  darkness  which  envelopeth  my  vision. 

28.      1     There  is  a  mine  for  silver, 

And  a  place  for  gold  to  be  refined. 

2  Out  of  the  earth  iron  is  taken, 
And  copper  tough-tissued  as  stone. 

3  Man  putteth  an  end  to  darkness, 

And  penetrateth  to  the  furthest  bounds  of  obscurity  and 
the  shadow  of  death. 

4  Slave-people  bore  shafts  which  wind  unfrequented  by  feet. 
And  wander  afar  from  men ; 

5  They  lay  open  the  earth,  from  which  the  grain  cometh, 
Her  depths  are  upheaved  as  if  by  fire. 

6  In  her  stones  the  sapphire  is  embedded, 
And  dust  of  gold  is  in  her  paths  — 

7  It  is  a  path  that  is  not  known  to  the  vulture. 
Not  spied  by  the  falcon's  eye ; 

8  The  proud  beasts  have  not  trodden  it. 
Nor  hath  the  fierce  lion  crossed  it. 

9  Man  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon  the  flinty  rock, 
He  overturneth  the  mountains  from  their  base. 

10  He  cutteth  tunnels  through  the  rock, 

And  his  eye  seeth  all  sorts  of  precious  things. 

11  He  bindeth  up  the  sources  of  rivers, 
And  he  bringeth  to  light  what  is  hidden. 


146  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

12  But  where  is  wisdom  to  be  found? 
And  where  is  the  home  of  knowledge  ?  ^ 

13  Man  doth  not  know  the  way  to  it. 

It  is  not  found  in  the  land  of  mortals. 

21  It  is  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  all  living  beings, 
And  concealed  from  the  birds  of  the  sky. 

14  The  deep  saith.  It  is  not  in  me, 

And  the  sea,  It  doth  not  abide  with  me. 

22  The  nether  world  and  death  say. 

With  our  ears  we  have  heard  a  rumor  of  it. 

23  God  understandeth  the  way  to  it. 
He  knoweth  its  home ; 

24  For  He  seeth  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
He  beholdeth  the  vastness  of  the  heavens. 

25  When  He  fixed  the  force  of  the  wind. 
And  measured  the  volume  of  the  water, 

26  When  He  made  the  law  for  the  rain, 

And  laid  down  the  course  for  the  thunderbolt, 

27  Then  did  He  see  it,  and  reveal  it. 

Then  did  He  enact  it,  yea.  He  plumbed  its  depths. 

28  And  concerning  man  He  said : 
The  fear  of  God,  that  is  wisdom. 
And  to  shun  evil  is  understanding. 

'  15    Fine  gold  cannot  be  given  for  it, 

Neither  can  it  be  traded  for  silver. 
16     It  cannot  be  bartered  for  Ophir-gold, 

For  precious  onyx  or  sapphire. 
17-18     Gold  and  glass  cannot  equal  it, 

Golden  vessels,  corals,  and  crystal  cannot  be  thought  of  as  ex- 
change for  it ; 

The  acquisition  of  wisdom  is  beyond  that  of  pearls, 
19    Ethiopian  topaz  cannot  equal  it, 

Nor  can  it  be  bartered  for  pure  gold. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  147 

God  Reveals  Himself 

38.      1    And  God  answered  amidst  the  storm  and  said : 

2  (G)  Who  is  it  that  seeketh  to  conceal  his  design  from  me, 

By  holding  back  his  words  in  his  mind  ? 

Doth  he  think  that  he  can  hide  them  from  me  ? 
40.      2    Will  he  shun  dispute  with  the  Almighty  ? 

God  will  answer  him  that  dealt  rebuke. 
38.      3    Gird  now  thy  loins  like  a  man  ! 

I  will  ask  thee,  and  answer  thou  me ! 

4  Where  wast  thou  when  I  founded  the  earth  ? 
Tell  if  thou  hast  understanding ! 

5  Who  determined  its  dimensions,  if  thou  knowest  ? 
Or  who  stretched  the  measuring  line  over  it  ? 

6  Whereon  were  its  foundations  set  ? 
Or  who  laid  its  cornerstone, 

7  The  while  the  morning-stars  sang  together. 
And  the  gods  shouted  for  joy  ? 

8  Who  shut  up  the  sea  behind  the  gates 

When  with  a  mad  rush  it  poured  forth  from  the  lap  of 
Mother  Earth, 

9  And  when  I  gave  it  clouds  for  a  garment. 
And  misty  darkness  for  swaddling  clothes ; 

10  When  I  marked  for  it  a  boundary. 
And  set  up  bars  and  gates, 

1 1  And  said, '  So  far  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  farther. 
And  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed  ? ' 

12  Hast  thou  ever  given  orders  to  the  morning, 
Assigned  to  the  dawn  its  place, 

13  That  it  graspeth  the  wings  of  the  earth. 
And  the  stars  are  shaken  out  of  it,^ 

14  And  it  turneth  red  as  sealing-wax, 
Standeth  robed  as  in  a  garment  ? 

>  Variant :  15  a    And  from  the  stars  is  withdrawn  their  light. 


148  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

16  Hast  thou  penetrated  to  the  sources  of  the  ocean, 
Walked  in  the  fathomless  depths  of  the  sea  ? 

17  Have  the  gates  of  death  been  opened  to  thee  ? 

Hast  thou  beheld  the  doorkeepers  oj  the  realm  of  the 
shadow  of  death? 

18  Hast  thou  found  out  the  extent  of  the  earth  ? 
Tell  if  thou  knowest  what  it  is ! 

19  Where  is  the  way  to  the  dwelling  of  light. 
And  where  is  the  habitation  of  darkness, 

20  That  thou  mightst  take  it  to  its  boundaries. 
And  lead  it  in  the  paths  to  its  home  ? 

21  Thou  knowest  it,  doubtless!    For  of  yore  wast  thou  born, 
And  the  number  of  thy  years  is  great. 

22  Hast  thou  been  at  the  storehouses  of  snow. 
Or  hast  thou  seen  the  storehouses  of  hail, 

23  Which  I  have  reserved  for  the  time  of  trouble, 
The  day  of  battle  and  war  ? 

24  What  road  leadeth  to  where  the  wind  is  parted, 
Whence  the  east  wind  sweepeth  over  the  earth  ? 

25  Who  hath  cleft  a  channel  for  the  torrential  rain. 
And  a  way  for  the  thunder-bolt, 

26  That  the  rain  falleth  on  land  where  no  man  liveth, 
On  the  desert  uninhabited  by  man, 

27  To  satisfy  the  waste  and  desolate  ground, 

And  to  cause  the  bud  of  the  tender  herb  to  spring 
forth? 

28  Hath  the  rain  a  father? 

Or  who  begetteth  the  drops  of  dew? 

29  Out  of  whose  womb  cometh  the  ice. 

And  who  giveth  birth  to  the  hoary  frost  of  the  heavens, 

30  When  the  water  freezeth  hard  as  stone. 
And  the  deep  is  covered  with  ice  ? 

31  Canst  thou  tie  the  lustrous  band  of  the  Pleiades 
Or  loose  the  girdle  of  Orion? 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  149 

32  Canst  thou  lead  forth  in  season  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac? 
And  canst  thou  guide  the  Bear  with  her  young  ? 

33  Knowest  thou  the  laws  that  govern  the  heavens  ? 
And  canst  thou  direct  their  dominion  over  the  earth? 

34  Canst  thou  bid  the  cloud  pour  down  abundance  of  rain 

upon  thee  ? 

35  Canst  thou  send  forth  thunder-bolts, 

That  in  ready  obedience  they  flash  through  the  skies? 

36  Who  hath  put  wisdom  in  the  Phoenix? 

Or  who  hath  given  understanding  to  the  cock  ? 

37  Who  in  his  wisdom  can  count  the  clouds  ? 

And  who  can  pour  out  the  pitchers  of  the  heavens 

38  When  the  ground  is  hardened  to  the  firmness  of  rock, 
And  the  clods  form  a  solid  mass  ? 

39  Canst  thou  hunt  prey  for  the  lion. 
Satisfy  the  appetite  of  vigorous  young  lions, 

40  When  they  couch  in  theu^  den,  lurk  in  their  covert? 

41  Who  provideth  food  for  the  raven 
When  his  young,  circling  through  the  air, 
Cry  to  God  for  lack  of  bread? 

1  Knowest  thou  the  time  when  the  chamois  of  the  mountain- 

peak  calve? 
Canst  thou  watch  for  the  travail  of  the  hinds, 

2  Number  the  moons  which  they  fulfill. 

And  fix  the  time  when  they  will  bring  forth  ? 

3  They  lie  down,  let  their  young  cut  through  and  pass 

out. 

4  Then*  young  grow  up  vigorous  in  the  open, 
Leave  them,  and  never  come  back. 

5  Who  gave  the  wild-ass  his  freedom. 
Released  from  all  bonds  the  onager, 

6  To  whom  I  assigned  the  wilderness  for  a  home. 
The  barren  desert  for  a  habitation  ? 


150  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

7  He  laugheth  at  the  tumult  of  the  city, 

The  cries  of  the  slave  driver  he  doth  not  hear. 

8  He  exploreth  the  mountains  as  his  pasture, 
And  hunteth  out  every  green  herb. 

9  Will  the  wild  ox  be  content  to  serve  thee  ? 
Or  will  he  abide  by  thy  crib  ? 

10  Canst  thou  bind  him  with  ropes  to  the  furrow? 
Or  will  he,  led  by  thee,  harrow  the  valleys  ? 

11  Wilt  thou  depend  on  him,  because  his  strength  is  great, 
And  entrust  to  him  thy  produce  ? 

12  Wilt  thou  rely  on  him  to  bring  home  thy  harvest. 
To  gather  it  in  to  thy  threshing  floor  ? 

19  Hast  thou  given  strength  to  the  horse, 
Clothed  his  neck  with  the  quivering  mane  ? 

20  Dost  thou  make  him  sweep  on  like  a  swarm  of  locusts 
With  majestic  and  furious  snorting  ? 

21  He  paweth  the  battle-field  and  exulteth, 
Full  of  mettle,  he  goeth  forth  to  battle. 

22  He  laugheth  at  fear  and  is  not  dismayed, 
He  draweth  not  back  from  the  sword. 

23  Over  his  sides  rattle  the  quiver. 
The  flashing  spear  and  the  shield. 

24  With  rage  and  fury  he  devoureth  the  ground. 

He    standeth    not    still    at    the   sound   of    the   battle- 
horn. 

25  As  oft  as  the  battle-horn  soundeth,  he  saith,  aha ! 

And  he  scenteth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the 
captains  and  the  shouting. 

26  Is  it  by  thy  wisdom  that  the  hawk  soareth. 

And  stretcheth  her  wing  to  the  storm  from  the  South  ? 

27  Is  it  at  thy  command  that  the  eagle  mounteth. 
And  buildeth  her  nest  on  high, 

28  That  she  dwelleth  and  maketh  her  home  on  the  cliff. 
On  the  jag  of  the  cliff,  or  on  the  peak  of  the  fortress  ? 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  151 

29  Thence  she  spieth  food. 

Her  eyes  discern  it  from  afar. 

30  Her  young  suck  blood, 

And  where  the  slain  are,  there  is  she. 
40.      9    Or  hast  thou  an  arm  like  God's? 

Canst  thou  thunder  in  a  voice  like  His  ? 

10  Then  deck  thyself  with  grandem-  and  sublimity. 
And  array  thyself  with  splendor  and  majesty. 

11  Let  out  the  rage  of  thy  wrath !    Abase  the  proud ! 

12  Bring  low  the  high  and  crush  the  mighty ! 
Tread  down  the  wicked  where  they  stand ! 

13  Hide  them  all  in  the  dust  of  the  grave  I 

14  Then  will  I  give  praise  to  thee  and  acknowledge 
That  thine  own  right  hand  can  save  thee. 

6    And  God  answered  Job  amidst  the  storm  and  said : 

8(G)  Despise  not  my  chastisement ! 

Dost  thou  think  I  would  have  revealed  myself  to  thee 
Were  it  not  that  thou  mightest  be  proven  righteous?  ,1 

40.      3  (42.  1)  And  Job  answered  God  and  said : 
40.      4    Behold,  I  am  of  small  account ! 
What  shall  I  answer  Thee  ? 
I  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth. 
5    Once  have  I  spoken,  but  will  not  again, 
Yea  twice,  but  I  will  proceed  no  further. 
42.      2    1  know  that  Thou  canst  do  all  things, 
That  nothing  is  impossible  with  Thee. 
3(G)   Who  can  hide  his  thoughts  from  Thee  ? 

Doth   any   one    think   to   hide   them   by   forbearing   to 

speak  ? 
Who  hath  told  me  anything  that  I  did  not  know. 
Any  great  and  wonderful  thing  to  which  I  had  not  given 
thought? 


152  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

5  I  had  heard  of  Thee  by  report, 

But  now  mine  eye  hath  beheld  Thee. 

6  Therefore,  though  I  am  wasting  away. 

I  am  comforted  for  my  lot  of  dust  and  ashes- 

7  After  Job  had  spoken  all  these  words,  God  said  to  Eliphaz : 
'My  wrath  is  roused  against  thee  and  thy  two  friends, 
because  ye  have  not  spoken  truthfully  to  me  as  hath  my 
servant  Job.  8  Now,  take  seven  bullocks  and  seven 
rams  and  go  to  my  servant  Job  and  offer  up  burnt  offer- 
ings for  yourselves,  and  my  servant  Job  shall  pray  for  you. 
Verily,  it  is  because  I  respect  him  that  I  brand  you  not  as 
infamous  for  not  having  spoken  truthfully  to  me  like  my 
servant  Job.  9  And  Eliphaz,  the  Temanite,  and  Bildad, 
the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar,  the  Naamathite,  did  as  God  com- 
manded them,  and  God,  respecting  Job,  forgave  them  {G). 

11  Thereupon,  all  his  brethren,  and  all  his  sisters,  and  all 
his  former  friends  came  to  Job,  and  ate  bread  with  him  in 
his  house,  and  condoled  with  him  and  comforted  him  for 
all  the  afHiction  that  God  had  brought  upon  him;  and 
they  gave  him  each  a  piece  of  money  and  a  golden  earring. 


PART  III 

NOTES  AND  SYNOPSES 


I-II 

I.  3  The  land  of  Us  .  .  .  man  of  the  East.  All  doubt  about  the 
location  of  Us  has  been  removed  since  Musil  identified  the  place  some 
thirty  years  ago.  He  found  the  ruin  el'Is  north  of  Petra,  in  the  same 
locality  where,  according  to  Eusebius,  Onomasticon,  had  stood  Ausitis, 
as  Us  is  called  in  the  Greek  Version.^  Such  a  location  of  Us  has  all  along 
been  considered  as  contradictory  to  the  statement  in  v.  3  that  Job  be- 
longed to  the  men  of  the  East,  bene  kedem,  from  which  it  was  concluded 
that  the  place  of  Us  must  have  been  east  or  northeast,  of  Palestine. 
This  objection  is  cleared  up  by  Musil's  observation  in  regard  to  the 
present  day  occurrence  of  the  expression  'people  of  the  East  in  Arabia 
Petraea,  the  ancient  Edom  and  Moab  :  "  The  inhabitants  of  the  desert 
are  occasionally  called  people  of  the  East,  ahali  esh-sherk,  in  contrast  to 
ahali  el-arb,  people  of  the  West,  by  which  name  the  Bedouin  call  the 
fellaheen  and  also  the  Egyptian  Bedouin."  ^  I  may  add  to  this,  that 
likewise,  in  Is.  11.  14  Edom  and  Moab  are  spoken  of  as  the  people  of  the 
East.  The  explanation  lies  undoubtedly  in  the  fact  that  the  term  is  ap- 
plied to  the  Bedouin  of  Edom  and  Moab  as  distinguished  from  the 
Bedouin  of  Egypt.  Obviously,  we  must  look  to  Egypt  for  the  origin  of 
the  phrase,  since  the  people  of  ancient  Edom  and  Moab  were  the  eastern 
neighbors  of  the  Egyptians.  This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  the  fact 
that  in  the  Eg>^ptian  story  of  Sinuhe,^  dating  from  about  2000  B.C., 
kedem  is  used  for  the  countries  southeast  and  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  i.e. 
for  the  later  Edom  and  Moab.  The  expression,  first  used  to  denote 
direction,  became  in  time  a  geographical  term,  like  our  Orient  and 
Occident. 

5  And  blasphemed  God.  By  way  of  antiphrasis,  berak,  "  bless  "  is 
used  instead  of  killel,  '^  curse,"  both  here  and  in  vv.  11,  2.  5  and  9.  An- 
other example  of  this  euphemism  occurs  in  I  Ki.  21. 10, 13.  There  is  no 
reason  to  charge  this  euphemism  to  later  scribes.    The  rendering  of  the 

^  Arabia  Petraea,  II,  1,  pp.  337,  339,  note  6. 

2  Op.  ciL,  III,  p.  22. 

3  See  Maspero,  Popular  Stories  of  Egypt,  4th  ed.,  pp.  77,  85,  89. 

155 


156  THE  BOOK   OF   JOB 

phrase  in  our  verses  in  Job  by  the  Greek  furnishes  no  proof  to  the  con- 
trary. The  Greek  read  the  euphemism  not  only  in  v.  11  and  2.  5,  but 
also  in  2.  9,  where  el-n-ov  tl  prjfm  is  the  translators'  attempt  to  paraphrase 
berak  with  an  analagous  Greek  euphemistic  expression  (for  correspond- 
ing examples  of  the  euphemistic  use  of  n  in  classic  WTit  see  Liddell-Scott, 
Greek-English  Lexicon,  s.v.  tl  and  Tracrxw).  This  being  the  case,  it  may 
safely  be  concluded  that  KaKa  ivevo-qaav  of  the  verse  here  is  another 
paraphrase  of  berak.  Analogous  euphemisms  are  a  characteristic 
of  all  Semitic  languages ;  they  occur  with  special  frequency  in  Arabic, 
classical  and  modern  alike. 

6,  7  Now  one  day  when :  wajhl  hajjom  is  not  tlie  main  clause,  but, 
together  with  the  rest  of  v.  6  modifjdng  it,  it  forms  a  temporal  clause 
dependent  upon  Yahweh  said  unto  the  Satan  of  v.  7.  Accordingly,  v.  6 
is  not  to  be  understood  as  meaning  that  the  day  arrived  for  the  heavenly 
beings  to  present  themselves,  but  as  sa3dng  that  one  day  they  presented 
themselves.  Similar  examples  are  v.  13,  I  Sam.  14.  1,  I  Ki.  4.  18. 
The  use  of  the  article  with  jo77i  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  from 
the  pomt  of  view  of  Hebrew,  the  day  in  question,  although  not  a 
definite  date,  is  sufficiently  differentiated  from  other  days  of  the  past 
by  the  event  that  transpired  on  it.  The  heavenly  beings.  The  expres- 
sion bejie  ha-elohlm  occurs  again  38.  7,  and  Gen.  6.  2,  4,  and  in  Ps. 
21.  9,  89.  7  we  have  the  parallel  plirase  bene  'ellni.  Both  plirases  are 
used  in  contrast  to  bene  ^adam  "  men  "  or  "  mortals,"  and  mean 
"  di\dne  beings  "  or  "  gods  "  ;  ben  in  Hebrew  is  used  to  denote  that  a 
being  or  object  belongs  to  a  certain  class  or  category  :  cf .  e.g.,  ben  shana, 
"  yearling,"  bin  lajla  ^sprung  up)  "  in  a  night,"  Jon.  4.  10,  ben  shemen, 
"  fertile  "  (slope),  Is.  5.  1. 

8  Ki  is  not  causal  particle,  but  introduces  Yahweh's  remarks  about 
Job.  Hast  thou  taken  note  of :  'al  must  not  be  amended,  it  is  used 
interchangeably  wdth  'el :  cf .  I  Sam.  25.  25. 

21  Thither.  In  regard  to  this  euphemism  see  p.  21,  n.  2 ;  regarding 
the  prayer  in  v.  21  b  see  pp.  21,  n.  1,  36. 

22  Nor  impute  blame  to  God.  As  to  this  meaning  of  Zo'  nathan 
tifla,  it  may  be  noted  that  24.  12  slm  tifla  means  "  to  take  offense," 
and  that  tifla,  Jer.  23.  13,  means  "  offensive  conduct :  "  further  that 
nathan  dabar  with  le  personae  can  mean  only  "  to  attribute  "  or  ''to 
impute."  Accordingly,  lo'  nathan  tifla  le  must  mean  "  he  did  not  charge 
God  with  ha\dng  committed  any  offense,"  i.e.,  "  he  did  not  find  fault 
with  "  or  "  impute  blame  to  him." 

II.  1  The  concluding  lehithjaseb  'al  jahweh  is  dittography,  as  both 
its  omission  in  Gk.  and  the  parallel  text,  1.  6,  show. 


NOTES  157 

4  Skin  for  skin.  This  is  a  proverbial  phrase,  a  trade-expression, 
the  meaning  of  which  is,  every  thing  has  its  set  price  —  a  skin  can  be 
traded  only  for  another  skin,  or  for  its  money  value.  Life,  however, 
the  Satan  means  to  say,  is  beyond  price  :  a  man  will  give  up  everything 
else  in  the  world  if  he  but  be  allowed  to  keep  his  own  life. 

8  As  he  sat  on  the  ash-heap,  i.e.,  on  the  mazbala  outside  of  the  village, 
as  Gk.  correctly  interprets  the  phrase,  ctti  ttJs  KOTrpia?  e^w  t^?  TroXews ; 
see  above,  p.  43,  n.  1.  By  this  statement  the  writer,  in  an  indirect 
manner,  made  it  clear  to  his  readers  that  Job  was  stricken  with 
leprosy. 

11  of  all  the  evil.     Omit  hazzoHh,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Vulg. 

12  In  regard  to  the  significance  of  the  rites  performed  by  the  friends 
see  pp.  43  ff. 

13  They  sat  beside  him.  As  two  Mss.  Ken.  and  Gk.  show,  la' ares 
is  not  original  reading ;  it  is  the  addition  by  a  later  coypist  who  did 
not  understand  either  the  significance  of  the  rites  or  the  friends'  silence. 
The  affliction  was  very  great:  see  p.  43,  n.  1.  The  phrase  has  been 
rendered  twice  in  Gk. ;  of  the  two  renderings  the  first  is  the  original, 
while  the  second  is  Hexaplaric,  being  suh  *  in  Hier. 

Ill 

;i?or  synopsis  see  p.  46f.,  also  comment  on  w.  20,  23. 

III.  3  It  is  a  boy!  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  ^^J?  for 
hora.  That  this  was  the  original  reading  is  shown  by  the 
parallelism :  Job  speaks  of  the  day  that  he  was  born,  and  not  of  the 
night  that  he  was  conceived.  Since  this  is  the  original  reading,  it  is 
obvious  that  'amar  is  used  impersonally,  and  is  not  predicate  of 
night. 

5  The  shadow  of  death :  salmaweth  is,  according  to  the  Masorites 
and  all  ancient  versions,  a  composite  noun.  Noldeke  has  conclusively 
proved  that  there  is  no  ground  for  questioning  this  tradition;  the 
widely  accepted  emendation  salmUth,  he  points  out,  is  most  assailable 
(ZATW.,  XVII,  pp.  183  ff.)."  May  the  darkening  of  daylight  affright 
it.  Vocalize  kamrlre;  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  is  referred  to,  a 
phenomenon  which  up  to  this  day  is  viewed  with  awe  and  terror  by 
the  people  in  the  Orient,  just  as  it  is  by  savages. 

6  be  counted.    Vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Sym.  and  Targ.,  "T):. 

7  be  sad :  galmud  is  used  here  with  the  meaning  "  sad  "  (a  natural 
development  out  of  the  meaning  "  barren  "  and  "  lonely  "),  in  which 
sense,  in  fact,  both  the  Gk.  and  the  Targ.  understood  it. 


158  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

8  by  those  skilled  in  cursing,  'orere  is  potential  participle ;  ^  —  'athid 
means  "  to  be  ready,"  ''  be  prepared  "  (Est.  8.  13),  ''  be  equipped  for  " 
(Job  15.  24)  or  "  expert  in."  As  stated  above,  p.  32,  both  Leviathan 
and  Rahab  are  Biblical  proper  names  for  Tiamat,  the  Assyrian-Baby- 
lonian goddess  of  darkness  and  evil.  This  follows  from  the  fact  that 
the  common  appellatives  of  Tiamat-Rahab,  "  the  dragon,"  and  "  the 
fleeing  dragon,"  (see  Job  7.  12,  26.  12f.,  and  Is.  51.  9)  are  applied  to 
Leviathan  in  Is.  27.  1.  The  fact  that  Tiamat  was  the  goddess  of 
darkness  and  evil  explains  why  she  was  depended  upon  for  the  practice 
of  the  dark  arts. 

10  Because  the  door  of  my  mother's  womb  was  not  closed,  so  that 
misery  might  have  been  hidden.  In  regard  to  the  ellipsis  hitnl  see  p. 
24.  Night  is  not  the  subject  of  sagar  and  jaster,  both  verbs  are  used 
impersonally.  By  this  construction  the  effect  is  heightened;  for 
similar  examples  cf.  8.  18  and  Jer.  13.  16. 

11,  16  at  birth  :  merehem  is  an  ellipsis  for  besethi  mereheni,  cf.  Nu.  12. 
12,  where  the  full  phrase  is  found ;  the  ellipsis  occurs  again  Jer.  20.  17. 
Verse  16,  which  in  its  present  place  interrupts  the  sequence  of  thought, 
originally  followed  v.  11,  as  Beer  and  Duhm  recognized.  This  is  shown 
by  the  negative  Zo'  which  depends  on  lamma;  in  the  present  position  of 
the  verse  lo^  has  no  meaning. 

12  Were  it  not  for  the  far-fetched  interpretation  which  is  commonly 
given,  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  remark  that  Why  did  knees  receive 
me,  is  like  Why  did  I  suck  the  breast,  the  poet's  concrete  expression  for 
*  why  did  I  receive  motherly  love  and  care  ? ' 

13  For  then,  i.e.,  if  I  had  died  at  birth,  or  been  still-born,  instead 
of  having  received  a  mother's  tender  care.  The  change  from  the 
perfect  to  the  imperfect  in  the  last  clause  is  explained  by  the  fact  that 
the  latter  forms  a  circumstantial  clause. 

14  The  traditional  rendering  of  v.  14  h  is  mcorrect  from  the  point 
of  view  of  sense  and  of  grammar :  if  it  meant  "  who  rebuild  ruins  " 
the  dative  lamo  would  not  have  been  used.  The  contexi:,  leads  one 
to  expect  a  reference  to  the  grave.  It  is  safe  to  conclude  with  Ewald 
and  others  that  the  text  originally  read  the  Egyptian-Arabic  word 
hiram;  harahoth  is  either  mistaken  reading  for  kiram,  or  the  word, 
when  adopted,  underwent  the  phonetic  change  of  m  to  b.^ 

1  By  this  (as  I  pointed  out  in  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  108  f .)  is  meant 
the  use  of  the  participle  to  denote,  not  the  occurrence  of  the  action  as  such, 
but  the  disposition  of,  or  tendency  of  the  subject  to,  or  its  quahfication  for, 
the  action. 

2  In  regard  to  this  frequent  phonetic  change  of  Arabic  m  to  Hebrew  0 


NOTES  159 

15  Who  have  their  tombs  filled  with  treasure.  The  specific  meaning 
here  of  baith,  "  tomb,"  or  "  grave/'  is  common  to  all  Semitic  languages 
and  also  to  Egyptian ;  it  occurs  again  Is.  14. 18.  It  is  in  all  probability 
an  ellipsis  for  beth  'olam  ("  eternal  dwelling-place  "),  which  occurs 
Eccl.  12.  5  and  frequently  also  in  Egyptian.  The  custom  among  the 
privileged  classes  of  the  ancient  Orient  of  icing  jewels  and  other 
valuables  in  the  graves  of  their  dead  is  too  we  ■  :.nown  to  require  lengthy 
discussion.  Fresh  evidence  of  its  prevalence  in  Canaan  from  the  earli- 
est times  on  has  been  brought  to  light  in  recent  years  by  the  excava- 
tions carried  on  at  el-Ta'anak.  The  Phoenician  tomb-inscription  of 
the  priest  Tebnet  (dating  from  about  400  b.c.)  contains  an  interesting 
reference  to  this  custom.  To  protect  himself  from  grave-robbers,  the 
priest  takes  the  precaution  to  announce,  "  I  have  neither  silver  nor  gold 
here." 

17  There.  This  phrase  does  not  refer  to  the  grave,  but,  as  stated 
before,  is  a  euphemism  for  Sheol. 

19  There  the  lowly  and  the  great  are  equals.  As  Is.  43.  13,  46.  4, 
Ps.  102.  28,  hW  means  "  the  same."  This  meaning  developed  out  of 
the  common  Semitic  use  of  hu'  as  emphatic  or  intensive  pronoun  — 
a  use  which  is  common  also  to  Biblical  Hebrew,  cf.  II  Chron.  28.  22, 
''  that  same  king,"  and  Is.  7.  14,  "  the  Lord  Himself."  In  declaring 
that  in  Sheol  all  class  distinctions  are  removed,  and  that  the  lowly 
and  the  great  are  equals,  the  author  of  Job  does  not  voice  the  common 
belief  of  his  age,  but  rather  the  opposite.  Postexilic  as  well  as  pre- 
exilic  Israel  shared  the  belief  of  their  times  that  social  caste  exists  even 
in  the  nether  world,  that  the  dead  carry  on  the  very  occupation  and 
existence  which  was  theirs  in  life,  and  that  those  who  die  grief  stricken, 
or  mutilated  in  body,  continue  in  Sheol  to  suffer  the  sorrow  or  the 
mutilation  which  they  bore  at  death  (cf.  Is.  14.  9ff.,  Ezek.  32.  18-32, 
Gen.  37.  35,  42.  38,  44.  29,  I  Ki.  2.  6,  9).  It  is  a  mistake  to  generalize 
from  our  passage,  as  has  generally  been  done.^  Our  author's  declara- 
tion is  the  direct  outcome  of  his  advanced  views  on  this  question.  As 
we  shall  see  later,  he  even  denies  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the 
shadowy  continuance  of  existence  after  a  man's  death  (see  14.  21f., 
and  21.  21). 

20,  23  Why  is  light  given.     This  is  another  case  of  impersonal  con- 

cf.  Barth,  Etymologische  Studien,^  p.  32,  and  Fraenkel,  Sporadischer  Laut- 
wandel  (in  Beitrage  z.  Assyriologie,  III,  1,  p.  76). 

^  Cf.  among  others,  A.  Bertholet,  Die  Israelitischen  Vorstellungen  vom 
Zustande  nach  dem  Tode,  2d.  ed.  (1914),  pp.  45ff. ;  P.  Torge,  Seelenglaube 
und  Unsterblichkeitshoffnung  im  Alien  Testament  (1909),  p.  55f. 


160  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

struction.  The  author  of  light  and  Hfe,  who  is  left  unmentioned,  is 
God.  Job  shrinks  from  naming  him  so  as  not  to  appear  to  cast  reflec- 
tions on  the  Divine  world  rule.  This  intention  is  still  more  apparent 
in  the  passive  construction  (juttan)  which  is  read  by  all  the  versions. 
The  impersonal  construction  tends  to  bring  out  the  spirit  of  the  chapter, 
which  portrays  Job's  perplexity  of  soul  at  God's  inexplicable  dealings 
with  him,  but  does  not  show  him  in  revolt  against  God.  Verse  23  cor- 
roborates this  assumption  in  regard  to  the  frame  of  mind  from  which 
his  reflections  proceed :  "  Why  is  life  given  to  a  man  whose  way  hath 
become  dark,  because  God  hath  hedged  him  in?  "  This  verse  is  eluci- 
dated by  19.  8-9  and  by  chap.  29,  where  the  thought  touched  upon  here 
is  fully  developed.    In  the  former  passage  Job  says  : 

"  He  hath  hemmed  in  my  path,  so  that  I  cannot  move, 

And  hath  enveloped  my  way  in  darkness. 

He  hath  stripped  me  of  mine  honor, 

And  hath  taken  my  crown  from  my  head.'* 

And  in  the  second  passage  he  describes  how  he,  and  his  fellowmen  as 
well,  had  taken  his  prosperity  as  a  sign  of  God's  approval,  and  how  in 
those  days  life  had  seemed  a  clear  path  to  him,  radiant  with  hope. 
All  this  has  suddenly  changed ;  plunged  from  the  height  of  prosperity, 
without  apparent  cause,  into  the  depths  of  misery,  he  can  no  longer 
cherish  the  feelings  of  assurance  and  trust  which  formerly  filled  his 
heart.  He  finds  himself  in  a  maze  from  which  he  sees  no  way  out. 
Why  is  life  given  to  a  man.  The  indirect  object  ISgeber  of  v.  23  depends 
on  jitten  of  v.  20.  Verse  23  b  with  its  imperfect  with  waw  consecuti- 
vum  forms  a  circumstantial  clause  to  23  a. 

22  rejoice  beyond  measure,  'e/e  gll  has  here  the  same  function  that 
the  cognate  accusative  has,  to  lend  emphasis  to  the  verb :  cf .  the 
similar  example  in  Hos.  9.  1. 

24  Kl  is  introductory  kl  leading  up  to  a  new  thought.  The  meaning 
of  lijne  is  practically  the  same  as  4.  19  and  I  Sam.  1.  16,  viz.  "  like," 
*'  as,"  "  for,"  ''  in  place  of." 

25,  26  The  fears  that  enter  my  mind  take  bodily  shape.  V.  25  a,  in 
order  to  be  adequately  expressed,  has  to  be  translated  rather  freely. 
This  translation  of  v.  25  is  correct  according  to  the  syntax  and  agrees 
with  the  meaning  of  v.  26.  Verse  26  completing  the  thought  of  v.  25 
speaks  of  the  constant  delirium  from  which  Job  is  suffering  —  one  of 
the  worst  features  of  elephantiasis.  Now  the  statement  of  v.  26  is 
properly  introduced  by  a  concise  description  of  the  frequency  with 


NOTES  161 

which  the  delirium  recurs ;  Job  says  that  no  sooner  does  he  think  with 
shuddering  of  his  agonies  than  they  take  shape  in  the  form  of  dreadful 
dreams.  V.  25  a  is  a  conditional  sentence,  the  apodosis  of  which  is 
formed  with  the  imperfect  with  waw  consecutivum  —  a  construction 
which  occurs  repeatedly  in  Job  and  also  in  other  books  of  the  Bible ; 
jabo'  of  25  b  is  imperfect  of  reiterated  action,  wajjabo'  rogez  of  26  6 
is  a  circumstantial  clause,  stating  the  reason  why  there  is  no  respite 
for  him.  The  traditional  translation  of  vv.  25-26  is  not  supported 
either  by  grammar  or  by  the  context. 


IV-V 

Synopsis.  —  The  pseudo-apology  with  which  Eliphaz  begins 
his  speech  is  indicative  of  his  character.  It  is  obviously  insincere 
as  far  as  any  consideration  for  Job  is  concerned.  Eliphaz  is 
plainly  incensed,  because  he  sees  in  Job's  utterances  an  irreverent 
attack  on  his  most  cherished  religious  beliefs  (he  later  states 
this  directly,  15.  4),  and  utterly  unmoved  by  his  friend's  terrible 
suffering,  he  thinks  only  of  answering  his  arguments  and  setting 
him  right.  —  "Who  could  refrain  from  speech?"  The  author's 
own  interpretation  of  this  speech,  6.  14,  shows  that  Eliphaz  is 
not  moved  by  the  desire  to  comfort  Job,  or  the  wish  to  spare 
him,  as  has  been  generally  supposed.  The  conciliatory  tone 
which  he  occasionally  uses,  and  which  has  been  thought  to 
show  consideration,  is  simply  prompted  by  the  hypocritical 
desire  to  appear  friendly.  Throughout  the  second  part  of  his 
speech  he  is  openly  unkind,  throwing  out  the  broadest  hints 
that  Job  must  be  guilty  of  sin  and  that  it  behooves  him  to  make 
his  peace  with  God.  See  also  comment  on  5.  6-7,  8-27,  and 
p.  47f. 

IV.  2  If  one  should  venture  to  say  a  word:  dabar  requires  no 
emendation;  it  is  ellipsis  for  dabber  dabar  (cf.  Gen.  44.  18,  Is.  58.  13), 
just  as  Engl.  "  may  I  venture  a  word,  "  or  "  may  I  be  allowed  a  word ;  " 
another  case  of  this  ellipsis  is  rob  debarim,  11.  2,  where,  in  fact,  it  has 
been  understood  as  such  by  the  Greek  and  also  by  Vulg.    The  perfect 


162  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

in  the  first  clause  is  perfect  used  in  the  protasis  of  conditional 
sentences.  The  Aramaic  plural  ending  of  millin  is  the  mistake  of  a 
copyist. 

3,  4  Verses  3  h  and  4,  as  the  change  from  perfect  to  imperfect  shows, 
are  not  coordinate  with  3  a,  but  are  circumstantial  clauses  expressing 
result. 

5  Calamity  hath  come  to  thee,  it  hath  touched  thee:  taho^  and 
tigga^  are  ellipses  for  ra^a  tabo'  etc.,  and  are  to  be  classed  as  euphemisms ; 
compare  the  similar  Homeric  euphemistic  expressions  TroXXa  TraOelv 
for  TToAAa  KttKa  TT.,  and  fxy  tl  irdOrj,  "  lest  he  suffer  any  ill." 

6  Fear  of  God :  jir'a  is  ellipsis  for  jir^atjahweh,  just  as  in  15. 4,  22.  4. 
In  the  second  clause,  place  tiqwathka  after  torn  derakeka. 

8  Reap  the  fruit  thereof.  The  objective  sufl&x  of  reap  does  not  refer 
to  evil  and  trouble,  but  to  the. entire  participial  clauses,  meaning  they 
reap  what  they  sow. 

10,  11  In  V.  10  we  have  a  case  of  zeugma,  the  subjects  roaring  and 
cry  of  the  first  clause  and  teeth  of  the  second,  depending  on  one  and  the 
same  verb,  kefir  is  the  young  lion  grown  to  full  strength.  The  two 
verses  were,  in  all  probability,  an  adage  illustrating  the  belief  of  the 
time  that  sooner  or  later  the  powerful  wicked  will  be  overthrown; 
for  the  meaning  11  6  compare  5.  4. 

Verses  12-16,  which  describe  the  mystic  agitation  attending  revela- 
tion, are  of  singular  beauty.^  They  attest  alike  to  the  analj^tic  faculty 
and  the  poetic  skill  of  the  writer. 

13  In  the  reveries  of  night-visions.  Its  qualificative  mehezjonoth 
gives  se'ipplm  the  connotation  reveries. 

16  A  faint  whisper :  demama  weqol  is  a  case  of  hendiadys;  the  phrase 
is  altogether  distinct  from  I  Ki.  19.  12,  qol  demama  daqqa,  "  the  still, 
small  voice." 

17-21  For  the  idea  expressed  in  these  verses  see  p.  48. 

17  Be  just  in  the  presence  of  God  .  .  .  pure  before  his  Maker.  The 
preposition  min  in  this  verse  is  not  min  of  comparison,  but,  as  in  Gen. 
38.  26,  Nu.  32.  22,  and  Jer.  51.  5,  means  "  measured  with,"  "  viewed 
by,"  and  then  ''  in  the  presence  of  "  or  "  before  :  "^  in  this  sense  it  was 
in  fact  understood  by  Gk.  iavrCov  rov  K.^  The  interpretation  and 
rendering  by  Rashi,  Luther,  and  RV.,  ''Shall  mortal  man  be  more 
just  than  God?    Shall  a  man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker?  "   is  by 

1  See  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  139f. 

2  In  the  second  part  of  the  verse  Gk.  erroneously  read  ma'asehU  for 
me'dsehu'.    i)  dvo  twv  epyojv  avroO. 


NOTES  163 

modern  scholars  rightly  considered  out  of  the  question  for  the  following 
reasons : 

(1)  Such  a  statement  would  be  a  mere  platitude,  and  that  it  should 
be  introduced  as  a  revealed  truth  in  the  sublime  language  of  verses 
12-16  would  be  conceivable  only  if  a  comical  or  satirical  effect  were 
aimed  at.  Neither,  however,  is  intended.  On  the  contrary,  verses 
12-16  are  calculated  to  put  the  hearer  in  a  serious  mood,  and  to  make 
him  listen  with  absorbed  interest  to  the  truth  revealed,  for  Eliphaz 
is  convinced  that  the  answer  to  Job's  question  in  3.  20-23  has  been 
disclosed  to  him.  (2)  The  translation  now  accepted  of  v.  17  is  borne 
out  by  vv.  18-20,  which  expatiate  on  v.  17.  By  the  translation  of  v. 
17  in  the  RV.  vv.  18-20  have  no  point.  (3)  Conclusive  proof  that  the 
translation  now  prevailing  gives  the  real  meaning  of  v.  17  is  furnished 
by  the  recurrence,  in  a  varied  form,  of  the  first  part  of  the  verse  in  9.  2, 
and  of  the  two  parts  in  15.  14  and  25.  4.  Now  the  question  in  9.  2 
by  Job  has  instead  of  min  the  preposition  Hm,  "  viewed  by,"  or  ''  meas- 
ured with,"  while  the  restatement  of  the  verse  in  15.  14  by  Eliphaz 
omits  the  prepositional  phrases  entirely  and  asks : 

"  What  is  man?    Could  such  as  he  be  pure? 
Could  he  that  is  born  of  woman  be  just?  " 

That  in  this  latter  verse  Eliphaz  reiterates  4.  17  is  shown,  first,  by 
the  fact  that  15.  15-16  corresponds  to  4.  18-19,  and  second,  by  25.  4, 
where  Bildad,  in  revoicing  the  view  expressed  in  4.  17  by  Eliphaz,  com- 
bines 9.  2  with  15.  14. 

18-21  These  verses  are  not  a  part  of  the  revelation,  but  are  Eliphaz' 
comment  on  it.  Even  in  His  servants  He  putteth  no  trust.  His  angels 
He  chargeth  with  error.  By  His  servants  the  heavenly  ministers  are 
meant,  as  is  shown  by  the  parallel  expression  His  angels.  The  popular 
notion  expressed  here  throws  an  interesting  side-light  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  angel-conception,  and  has  also  an  accidental  bearing  on 
the  question  of  the  unity  of  the  Prologue  and  the  Dialogues.  The 
idea  of  angels  in  general  not  measuring  up  to  the  Divine  standard,  but 
exhibiting  imperfection,  is  not  compatible  with  later  Jewish  speculation, 
which  draws  a  sharp  distinction  between  the  angels  that  have  fallen 
from  grace  and  the  angels  without  sin  or  blemish.^  The  view,  how- 
ever, is  in  striking  accord  Avith  the  Prologue,  where  the  Satan  appears 
as  a  member  of  the  heavenly  entourage,  and  shows  himself  subject  to 

1  The  first  evidence  of  this  conception  is  found  in  the  oldest  part  of  the 
Ethiopic  Book  of  Enoch,  which  dates  from  about  170  B.C. 


164  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

error  and  human  foible.  The  meaning  of  tahala,  fault,  error,  is  estab- 
lished by  Ethiopic  tahala,  "  to  err,"  which  in  its  tm-n  probably  is  re- 
lated to  Arabic  wahila,  ''to  err  "  or  "to  fail." 

19  How  much  more.  Read  'af  kl,  there  being  no  other  example 
of  'of  by  itself  meaning  "  how  much  more,"  or  "  how  much  less."  The 
kl  in  all  probability,  when  omitted,  was  added  in  the  margin,  whence  it 
was  -^Tongly  inserted  at  the  begimiing  of  5.  2.  As  often,  the  pasek 
after  'a/  was  put  to  indicate  the  omission,  is  dust :  be  of  be' afar  is  be 
essentiae.     like  a  moth.     In  regard  to  lifne,  see  3.  24. 

20  Unheeded :  mesim  is  ellipsis  for  mesini  leb. 

21  When  their  life-thread  is  broken  off,  verily,  do  they  not  die  ?  As 
in  V.  2,  the  interrogative  particle  belonging  to  the  apodosis  is  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  sentence.  The  customary  translation  of  v.  21  a,  "Is 
not  their  tent-cord  plucked  up  within  them?  "  is  untenable  for  the 
reason  that,  aside  from  the  fact  that  the  technical  term  for  "  tent- 
cord  "  is  methar,  not  jether,  "  their  tent-cord  within  "  or  "in  them  " 
hardly  conveys  any  sense.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  number  of  exegetes 
have  arbitrarily  emended  the  text,  changing  jether  to  jethedam  and  bam 
to  mehem,  or  omitting  the  latter  entirely.  The  clew  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  half -verse  is  furnished  by  bam,  which  shows  that  we  have  a 
figure  of  speech  similar  to  that  found  in  6.  9,  27.  8,  and  Is.  38.  12  b. 
Though  the  myth  of  the  Parcae,  who  spin  and  sever  the  thread  of  life, 
was  unknowTi  among  the  Semitic  peoples,  the  comparison  of  life  to 
a  thread  or  a  web,  and  of  death  to  the  severing  of  the  thread  or  web, 
occurs  both  in  Hebrew  and  Arabic  literature.  In  Is.  38.  12  b  the  com- 
parison is  carried  out  fully :  "  I  have  rolled  up,  like  a  weaver,  my 
life;  from  the  thrum  He  severeth  me."  The  frequent  occurrence 
of  the  comparison  in  Arabic  has  been  pointed  out  by  A.  Fischer,  Zauw 
al-manija,  ZDMG.,  LXVII,  p.  121  f.  Of  the  examples  quoted  by  him 
I  shall  cite : 

"  Everyone  living  must  perish. 

And  every  cord  (ukullu  hablin),  however  tightly  twisted,  some  day 
will  break  off,"  Hansa,  132,  7 ; 

karada  ribatahu,  "  he  severed  "  or  "  cut  off  his  bond."  Karada  alone 
is  used  elliptically  with  the  same  meaning.^  A  Hebrew  parallel  to  this 
ellipsis  we  have  in  jebasseeni,  "  He  might  cut  me  off,"  Job  6.  9,  and 
agaui  27.  8.  Compare  with  the  meanmg  is  broken  off,  Tvlth  which 
nissa  is  used  in  our  verse  here,  its  similar  raeardng  in  Judg.  16.  14, 

*  See  Lane,  Arab.  Did.,  s.v. 


NOTES  165 

*'  He  tore  away  the  loom  with  the  web."  *  in  ignorance.  The  author 
refers  probably  to  the  universal  notion  that  in  the  hour  of  death  the 
veil  is  hfted  from  men's  eyes ;  he  maintains  the  contrary,  that  men  die 
as  they  live,  in  ignorance. 

V.  1  To  which  of  the  Holy  beings  (qeddshim)  wilt  thou  turn  ?  The 
term  qeddshim  is  a  common  Semitic  appellative  of  God  or  the  gods,  as 
the  case  may  be.  It  denotes  primarily  the  sublimity  or  exaltation  of 
God  and  divine  beings.  It  is  generally  thought  that  the  idea  of 
angelic  mediation  is  referred  to  in  this  verse.  But  as  the  notion  is 
liot  met  with  anywhere  else  in  Old  Testament  literature  (about  33.  23 
see  p.  352),  and  is  not  likely  to  have  become  prevalent  among  the  Jews 
prior  to  the  close  of  the  third  century  B.C.,  this  interpretation  is  hardly 
admissible.  The  notion  referred  to  is,  to  my  mind,  the  common 
Semitic  notion  of  the  intercession  of  Welis  ^  or  Saints  —  a  notion  which 
has  continued  to  hold  sway  throughout  Semitic  countries  down  to  the 
present  day.  The  Weli  is  conceived  of  as  the  intermediary  through 
whom  men  may  approach  God ;  to  him  the  people  appeal  when  in  dis- 
tress, that  he  may  intercede  for  them  with  God,  or  act  himself  as  then: 
savior.  So  deeply  rooted  in  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  people 
was  the  TFeZi-worship,  that  Mohammed  and  early  Islam  fought  in  vain 
for  its  eradication.  The  cult  reaches  far  back  in  Semitic  antiquity, 
and  though  many  elements  of  primitive  religious  belief  entered  into  its 
make-up,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  has  its  roots  in  ancestral  worship. 
Wherever,  owing  to  favorable  conditions,  the  cult  has  maintained  its 
primitive  character,  as,  e.g.,  in  Arabia  Petraea,  the  Welis,  as  a  rule,  are 
the  departed  spirits  of  either  historical  or  legendary  heroes  raised  to 
the  rank  of  progenitors  of  the  tribes  among  which  they  are  worshipped.^ 
The  origin  of  the  Weli-cult  in  ancestor  worship  follows  also  from  the 
very  name  Weli,  which,  like  Hebrew  go'el,  means  one  who  is  protector 
or  patron  by  virtue  of  his  being  next  of  kin.    There  is  ample  proof  of 

*  ha-jSsad  is  a  gloss ;  see  Moore,  JudgeSy  and  Kittel,  Bihlia  Hebraica, 
adloc. 

2  The  proper  plural  of  Well  is  AulijQ. 

'Cf.  A.  Jaussen,  Coutumes  des  Arabes  au  Pays  de  Modb,  pp.  294-312; 
A.  Musil,  Arabia  Petraea,  II,  1,  p.  229  f.,  Ill,  pp.  329-334;  S.  I.  Curtis, 
Ursemitische  Religion  im  Volksleben  des  heuiigen  Orients,  pp.  62  f .,  66-69, 
81-88,90,  100-105,  110  f.,  124  f.,  128,  132  f.,  188  f.,  199,  282-286  (in 
the  original  English  edition.  Primitive  Semitic  Religion  To-day,  the  ma- 
terial on  this  point  is  less  complete) ;  I.  Goldziher,  "Die  Heiligenverehrimg 
im  Islam"  in  Muhammedanische  Studien,  II,  pp.  281-289,  305-322,  372; 
also  I,  234-239. 


166  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

the  existence  of  the  Weli-cult  in  Israel.  In  the  first  place  there  was 
ancestor  worship,  in  which  the  cult  is  rooted.  Isaiah,  upbraiding  his 
contemporaries  for  appealing  to  their  ancestral  spirits  for  help,  repre- 
sents the  people  as  defending  their  practice  with  the  words  :  "Do  not 
people  seek  their  ancestral  spirits,  entreat  the  dead  in  behalf  of  the 
living?  "  Is.  8.  19  —  'elohlm  denotes  here  "  ancestral  spirit,"  just  as 
I  Sam.  28.  13,  in  the  story  of  Samuel's  being  conjured  up  by  the  witch 
of  Endor.  Further,  in  Talmud  Babli,  Sotah  34  b,  and  Ekah  Rabbati, 
Petihta,  sect.  55f .,  we  have  evidence  that  as  late  as  Talmudic  times  the 
patriarchs  and  Moses  were  worshipped  as  Welis.  In  the  former  it  is 
told  that  when  Caleb  was  sent  to  explore  Canaan,  he  went  to  Hebron, 
to  the  grave  of  the  patriarchs,  and  prayed  to  them  to  intercede  in  his 
behalf  with  God,  so  that  he  should  not  hnecome  a  party  to  the  plan  of  the 
other  spies.  The  latter  contains  a  naive  story,  which  tells  diffusely  how 
at  the  time  of  th^  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple,  Jeremiah 
went  to  the  graves  of  the  patriarchs  and  Moses,  and  appealed  to  them 
to  intercede  with  God  in  be  half  of  exiled  Israel,  and  how  in  this  way 
the  people's  ultimate  return  to  their  country  was  brought  about.  One 
might  be  inclined  to  ritribute  these  stories  to  the  influence  of  the  Arabic 
or  other  Semitic  literature  of  the  time,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  Is. 
63.  16  furnishes  indisputable  proof  that,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the 
prophets  and  the  subsequent  religious  reformation,  Abraham  and 
Jacob-Israel  were  worshipped  as  Welis  in  postexilic  times  as  late  as 
the  closing  decade  of  the  Persian  period.^    Is.  63.  16  we  read : 

"  Thou  art  our  Father !    Abraham  knoweth  us  not, 

Nor  doth  Isra      'cknowledge  us :  Thou,  Yahweh,  art  our  Father 

Our  go'el  hath       n  Thy  name  from  time  immemorial. '^ 

The  writer's  protestation  that  Abraham  and  Israel  do  not  know  or 
acknowledge  them,  that  it  is  Yahweh  whom  they  (he  and  the  people 
of  like  faith)  profess  as  their  Father,  has  point  only  if  Abraham  and 
Israel,  at  the  time,  were,  as  the  progenitors  of  the  race,  objects  of 
divine  worship.  The  author's  declaration  that  Yahweh's  name  has 
always  been  "  our  go^el  "  points  to  the  same  conclusion.  Only  in  the 
light  of  what  has  been  said  about  the  Welt  can  we  understand  the 
meaning  of  this  declaration,  that  is,  that  Yahweh,  not  the  progenitors 
of  the  race,  Abraham  and  Israel,  has  always  been  acknowledged  as  the 

1  Isaiah  63.  7-64. 11  dates  from  the  rule  of  Artaxerxes  Ochus ;  of.  Cheyne, 
Introduction  to  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  p.  356f.,  and  my  article,  Are  There  Any 
Maccabaean  Psalms  ?  p.  245. 


NOTES  167 

sole  go' el,  or  Well,  of  the  people.     Note  that  in  the  Arabic  version, 
go'el  in  Job  19.  25  is  rendered  by  weli. 

2  killeth  the  fool.  The  construction  of  the  direct  object  with  le, 
which  occurs  several  times  in  Job  (cf.  12.  23,  19.  28,  and  also  5.  7),  is 
not,  as  widely  thought,^  a  peculiarity  of  the  late  literature  due  to 
Aramaic  influence,  but  is  a  common  construction  also  in  the  older  liter- 
ture  (cf.  e.g.,  Ex.  32.  13,  Nu.  32.  15,  Deut.  9.  27, 1  Sam.  22.  7,  23. 10,  II 
Sam.  3.  30,  Jer.  40.  2,  Ezek.  34.  4).  It  is  found  likewise  in  Arabic  and 
Assyrian :  in  fact,  as  A.  Fischer  has  pointed  out,  it  is  a  common  Se- 
mitic usage,  the  beginnings  of  which  must  lie  far  back  in  the  C/r-Semitic 
language.^ 

3  True,  I  have  seen  the  fool  taking  root,  but  suddenly  his  habitation 
was  found  cursed,  ^eqqob,  it  is  generally  held,  is  not  the  original 
reading :  read  instead  ^py.^  Ps.  37.  35f .  may  be  quoted  as  a  parallel 
to  this  verse :  "I  have  seen  the  wicked  man  powerful  and  thriving 
like  a  green  tree  in  its  native  soil,  but  when  I  passed  by,  he  was  no  more, 
when  I  looked  for  him,  he  was  not  to  be  found." 

4  They  were  crushed  in  the  gate,  i.e.  in  the  court  of  justice,  the  seat 
of  which  is  at  the  city  gate,  cf.  29.  7,  31.  21,  and  II  Sam.  15.  2. 

5  What  they  harvested.  Read  'I'^^p/. ;  instead  of  I'^'Ifp  ;  the  present 
reading  was  brought  about  by  the  transposition  of  '  from  the  begin- 
ning into  the  body  of  the  word.  The  reading  of  G,  a  yap  eKetvot  a-vvqya- 
yov  (Prs.  252  rjroiixaaav)  StKatot  eSovTat  is  the  result  of  contamination 
with  27.  16-17.  The  second  part  of  the  verse  is  hopelessly  cor- 
rupt ;  the  customary  translation,  ''  And  taketh  it  even  out  of  the 
thorns,  and  the  snare  gapeth  for  their  substance,"  is  mere  guesswork. 
The  readings  of  this  part  in  the  versions  differ  not  only  from  the 
Hebrew,  but  also  from  one  another.  Under  these  circumstances  no 
attempt  can  be  made  to  emend  the  text.  But  it  must  be  mentioned 
that  the  reading  of  5  c  in  the  Targ.,  "  Robbers  will  make  spoil  of  their 
wealth,"  is  a  striking  parallel  to  Ps.  109.  11,  "  Let  strangers  make  spoil 
of  the  fruit  of  his  labor." 

6,  7  Verily,  misery  springeth  not  up  out  of  the  soil,  nor  doth  affliction 
sprout  from  the  ground.  Summarizing,  Eliphaz  denies  that  misfor- 
tune is  merely  a  matter  of  fate,  that  affliction  and  misery  befall  men 

1  Cf.  Ges.-Kautzsch,  28th  ed.  §  117,  n,  Brown  Driver  Briggs,  Hehr.  Lex., 
p.  512,  Franz  Delitzsch,  ad  loc. 

^  Auflosung  der  Accusativrection  des  transitiven  Verbs  durch  die  Pro- 
position li  im  Klassischen  Arabisch  (in  Verhandl.  d.  KSGW.,  phil.-hist.  Kl. 
LXII  (1906),  6,  pp.  186ff.) 

3  Cheyne,  JQ.,  1897,  p.  575. 


168  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

without  their  being  in  any  way  responsible,  just  as  vegetation  springs 
up  from  the  soil  spontaneously.  Verse  7,  as  it  reads  at  present,  says 
just  the  opposite,  that  man  is  fated  to  suffer,  *'  But  man  is  born  unto 
trouble."  It  is  safe  to  conclude,  however,  wdth  Bottcher  and  others, 
that  the  vocalization  jiilad  is  a  mistake  for  original  \}'^\  Man  it  is 
that  begetteth  trouble.  Such  an  assertion  is  perfectly  consistent  with 
Eliphaz'  reasoning  throughout.  As  a  fii-m  believer  in  retributive 
justice  he  insists  that  misfortmie  is  a  proof  of  wrongdoing,  and  therefore 
a  warning  to  return  to  God  with  penitent  heart.  Not  to  accept  ajQQiic- 
tion  in  this  submissive  spirit  is  open  rebellion  against  God,  and  must 
have  the  gravest  consequences.  The  last  thought  follows  by  implica- 
tion from  v.  7  b,  Impetuous  spirits  soar  high.  The  customary  transla- 
tion of  the  half-verse,  ''as  the  sparks  fly  upward,"  is  incorrect.  Con- 
trary to  granmiatical  rules,  it  renders  the  conjimctive  waw  with  ''  as," 
confusing  the  waw  of  connection  with  the  waw  of  association,  used 
to  join  another  subject  or  object  to  a  complete  clause.  This  mistake 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  bene  reshef,  which  already  puzzled  the  ancient 
exegetes,  has  wrongly  been  taken  to  mean  "  sparks."  To  ascertain 
the  true  meaning  of  the  phrase,  it  must  be  remembered  that  reshef 
means  1.  heat,  glaw  (in  the  physical  sense) ;  2.  (a)  intense  heat-ray 
or  (Yahweh's)  fire-bolt,  bringing  pestilence,  Deut.  32.  24,  Hab.  3.  5 
(similarly  in  Greek  literature  the  heat-rays,  Apollo's  missiles,  are 
thought  to  bring  pestilence),  (6)  thunderbolt,  Ps.  78.  48,  (c)  arrow,  Ps. 
76.  4  (since  the  thunderbolt  is  Yahweh's  arrow,  cf.  Ps.  18.  15) ;  3.  heat 
or  fire  of  passion.  In  accordance  with  this  last  meaning,  ben  reshef 
means  one  characterized  or  governed  by  passion  or  impetuousness  (cf . 
above,  p.  156,  ben  shemen  and  ben  lajla) ;  the  expression  is  equivalent 
to  Engl,  hotspur.  Arab,  rasafa,  "  go  along  in  leaps,"  and  in  the  ninth 
conjugation  "  be  borne  aloft,"  may  be  pointed  out  as  further  proof  of 
this  meaning.  Eliphaz  means  to  say  that  impetuous  spirits,  like  Job, 
try  to  soar  beyond  all  human  bounds,  but  that  their  fall  will  be  all  the 
more  precipitous.  As  stated  p.  17,  Eliphaz  in  all  probability  quotes 
an  adage  to  point  his  meaning.  higUah,  with  the  meaning  soar  high, 
occurs  again  39.  27,  Ob.  v.  4  where,  however,  it  is  used  elliptically. 

8-27  In  his  characteristic  manner,  Eliphaz  reframs  from  mentioning 
Job  directly,  nevertheless  he  plainly  intimates  that  if  he  were  in  his 
place,  he  would  seek  God.  God's  ways,  he  adds,  have  no  other  purpose 
than  to  deliver  the  afflicted  from  suffering  and  tyrannj^ ;  His  chastise- 
ment, if  willingly  accepted,  will  turn  into  a  blessing.  Verses  9-16,  in 
which  Eliphaz  expresses  the  hope  that  deliverance  from  tyranny  and 
injustice  will  finally  come,  are  not  aside  from  his  purpose,  but  serve  as 


NOTES  169 

a  reply  to  Job's  assertion  (in  ch.  3)  that  most  men  are  born  to  drudgery 
and  oppression. 

10  the  fields :  husdth  is  properly  the  open  country,  the  area  outside 
the  walled  city. 

11  Who  hath  power  to  exalt:  lasum  is  emphatic  infinitive  (cf.  e.g., 
Hos.  9.  13,  Ps.  104.  21). 1  the  grief  stricken :  qadar,^  in  addition  to 
"  mourn,"  means  "  to  be  gloomy,"  and  "  to  be  griefstricken  "  (cf. 
30.  28,  Ps.  38.  7,  42.  10,  Jer.  8.  21). 

12  nothing  substantial:  tushija,  the  abstract  of  the  verhum  sub- 
stantivum  jesh,  is  here  used  with  its  primary  meaning,  "  bemg,"  "  ex- 
istence," "  substance." 

13  is  confounded.     With  this  meaning  nimhar  occurs  again  Is.  32.4. 
15  The  object  'ebjon  is  to  be  construed  with  both  from  the  weapon 

etc.  and  from  the  power  etc.,  provided  that  the  verse  is  mtact.  From 
the  weapon  of  their  crafty  mouths :  mippihem,  for  which  some  Mss. 
have  the  variant  plhem,  is  a  very  common  construction,  cf.  4.  13  "  rev- 
eries of  night-visions,"  Ps.  10.  18  'enosh  min  ha'ares,  "  terrestrial  man," 
80. 14  hazlr  mijja'ar,  "  wild  boar."  All  of  these  are  cases  of  explicative 
min;  ^ '  the  real  meaning  of  hereh  mippihem  is  "  the  weapon  into  which 
they  have  converted  their  mouths."  Note  that  the  imperfects  with 
waw  consecutivum  of  w.  15,  16,  form  result-clauses. 

19  In  six  troubles  .  .  .  yea,  in  seven.  The  number  the  writer  wishes 
to  express  is  seven.  A  peculiarity  common  to  all  Semitic  languages 
is  the  expression  of  numbers,  especially  of  typical  and  mystic  numbers, 
by  two  numbers  the  second  of  which  is  the  real  number  meant,  while 
the  first  is  in  numerical  value  next  to  it.  For  other  examples  of  the 
kind  cf.  Prov.  6.  16,  30.  15,  18,  21 ;  Amos  1.  3-2.  6.  "  Seven,''  as  the 
specification  of  the  evils  in  w.  20-23  shows,  is  not  to  be  taken  literally, 
but  is  used  to  characterize  the  evils  as  cardinal  evils.  This  use  of  the 
number  seven  to  denote  the  consummate  character  of  things  is  quite 
frequent  in  the  Bible,  as  in  fact  throughout  ancient  literature :  it  has 
its  origin  in  the  ancient  conception  of  the  universe  as  made  up  of  seven 
planets  or  spheres,  and  in  the  seven  planetary  deities  of  the  Assyrian- 
Babylonian  Pantheon  that  developed  out  of  this  conception. 

21  By  the  scourge  of  the  tongue  plotting  and  slanderous  charges  are 
meant.    That  these  should  be  classed  among  the  cardinal  evils  is  not 

>  1  Emphatic  infinitive  seems  to  me  an  appropriate  term  for  the  infinitive, 
either  absolute  or  construct,  when  used  with  the  force  of  the  finite  verb 
for  the  purpose  of  emphasis. 

2  The  term  has  been  coined  by  Fleischer  to  apply  to  the  similar  case  in 
Arabic,  Kleinere  Schriften,  II,  p.  7  f . 


170  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

surprising,  when  it  is  remembered  that  plotting  and  slanderous  charges 
have  in  Oriental  history  been  at  all  times  resorted  to  as  a  powerful 
weapon  against  an  enemy  or  troublesome  opponent.  Thus  Jeremiah 
tells  that  his  contemporaries  sought  "  to  smite  him  with  the  tongue  " 
(Jer.  18.  18),  meaning  that  they  sought  to  rid  themselves  of  him  by  pre- 
ferring slanderous  charges  against  him,  cf.  Jer.  20.  10.  Cf.  Ps.  31.  21, 
''  attack  by  tongues,"  which  is  explained  by  the  parallelism  as  "  con- 
spiracy," and  140. 4ff.,  12. 

23  Even  with  the  earth-demons  thou  wilt  be  in  league.  Ki  is  em- 
phatic particle.  The  present  reading,  "  with  the  stones  of  the  field," 
cannot  be  the  original  text,  as  it  is  obvious  that  the  stones  of  the  field 
cannot  have  been  considered  an  illustration  of  cardinal  evils,  'ahne 
is  a  mistake  for  'Jn^?,  which  reading  as  K.  Kohler  has  shown,  is  found 
in  an  Oxford  fragment  of  Midrash  Tanhuma;  it  is  also  quoted  as  a 
variant  by  Rashi  from  Sifra,  Lev.  11.  27,  and  MisJma  Kilaim  VIII.  5. 
In  explanation  of  ^ddone  hassade  Kohler  quotes  from  Doughty,  Arabia 
Deserta,  I,  p.  166 : 

"  The  fatness  of  the  Hejr  loam  is  well  known  in  the  country ;  many 
have  sown  here,  and  awhile,  the  Arabs  told  me,  they  fared  well,  but 
always  in  the  reaping  time  there  has  died  one  of  them.  A  hidden  mis- 
chief they  think  to  be  in  all  this  soil  once  subverted  by  divine  judg- 
ment, that  it  may  never  be  tilled  again  or  inhabited.  Malignity  of  the 
soil  is  otherwise  ascribed  by  the  people  of  Arabia  to  the  groimd- 
demons,  jan,  'ahl  el- ardor  earth-folk.  Therefore  husbandmen  in  these 
parts  used  to  sprinkle  new  break-land  with  the  blood  of  a  peace  offer- 
ing." 

Kohler  rightly  concludes  that  the  'ahl  el-ard  are  identical  with  the 
^ddone  hassade  of  Job,  with  which  the  pious  man  will  be  in  league,  even 
if  he  does  not  propitiate  them  ^dth  the  blood  of  a  sacrifice,  and  that 
both  are  akin  to  the  se'lrlm,  "  the  Satyrs  "  of  the  fields  or  the  woodlands 
of  Lev.  17.  5-7.1 

24  miss  nothing.  As  in  Prov.  8.  36,  Is.  65.  20,  hata'  is  used  with  its 
primary  meaning. 

27  This  we  have  found  by  diligent  search;  That  it  is  true  we  have 
always  heard  affirmed.  Impress  it  then  on  thy  mind.  Instead  of 
the  imper.  with  nun  energicum,  of  which  no  parallel  example  occurs, 
Gk.  and  Sj^t.  read  first  plur.  perfect  nj;;D2^.  That  this  must  have 
been  the  original  reading  is  absolutely  certain  from  the  emphatic  pro- 
noun we'atta,  which  precludes  the  possibility  that  an  imperative  pre- 

1  "Das  Erdmannlein"  in  ARW.,  XIII,  pp.  75-79. 


NOTES  171 

ceded.  From  this  generally  accepted  reading  it  follows  that  ken  hu'  is 
not  coordinate  with  haqarnuha,  meaning  "  so  it  is,"  but  objective 
clause  of  sema'nuha,  and  that  ken  is  the  verbal  adjective  of  kun,  used 
with  the  meaning  true,  as  Nu.  27.  7,  I  Ki.  1.  36,  "  may  the  Lord  verify 
it."  Eliphaz  means  to  say  that  not  only  does  his  reason  tell  him 
there  is  retributive  justice,  but  that  this  belief  has  been  handed  down 
as  truth  from  bygone  ages.  The  two  statements  are  in  no  wise  con- 
tradictory ;  religious  philosophy  has  ever  made  it  its  task  to  show  that 
religious  beliefs  are  founded  on  reason. 

VI-VII 

Synopsis.  —  For  the  present,  Job  does  not  enter  into  the  argu- 
ments advanced  by  Eliphaz,  nor  does  he  continue  the  line  of 
reasoning  begun  in  ch.  3 ;  instead  he  gives  expression  to  the  dis- 
appointment he  feels  because  of  his  friends'  harsh  and  unfeeling 
attitude  toward  him  in  his  misery.  He  urges  that  his  words 
were  not  the  outcome  of  impiety,  but  the  frenzied  outpouring  of 
a  despairing  heart.  He  compares  his  friends  to  the  ox  and  the 
ass  that  are  content  amidst  plentiful  pasture,  implying  that  their 
own  prosperity  has  made  them  incapable  of  sympathy  and  the 
larger  understanding.  By  the  use  of  another  figure  he  says 
that  Eliphaz'  commonplaces  are  as  repugnant  to  him  as  his 
own  loathsome  disease  —  repugnant  because  they  are  shallow 
and  unjust.  As  to  Eliphaz'  insinuation  that  he  must  have  com- 
mitted sin,  he  declares  that  if  God  would  but  grant  his  prayer 
to  put  an  end  to  his  life,  instead  of  subjecting  him  to  this 
protracted  torture,  he  would  have  the  supreme  consolation 
of  knowing  that  he  had  lived  his  life  to  the  end  in  conformity 
with  God's  requirements.  Referring  to  Eliphaz'  exhortation 
that  he  repent,  with  the  view  to  being  restored  to  health,  he 
shows  by  a  few  burning  questions  the  mockery  of  holding  out 
hope  to  one  so  hopelessly  incurable.  He  amplifies  this  thought 
a  little  later  on  in  his  speech.  For  the  present  he  allows  his 
mind  to  be  taken  up  with  the  thought  of  the  disappointment  he 
has  suffered  in  his  friends  who,  instead  of  being  loyal  to  him  and 


172  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

sympathetic  when  they  beheld  his  terrible  misfortune,  have 
shown  themselves  cold  and  selfish.  He  asked  so  little  of  them, 
neither  money  nor  service,  just  ordinary  human  sympathy, 
but  even  this  little  they  did  not  give  him.  Instead,  they 
thought  of  their  own  safety  (see  pp.  43ff.).  His  own  impersonal 
view  of  what  the  friendly  and  the  loyal  attitude  should  be  in 
such  a  case  he  has  stated  at  the  outset : 

"  To  him  who  is  in  despair  sympathy  should  be  shown  by  his 

friends. 
Even  though  he  departed  from  the  fear  of  the  Almighty." 

His  indignation  grows  as  he  describes  how  the  friends  have  failed 
him,  and  he  tells  them  plainly  what  he  thinks  of  them.  They 
are  cold  and  hard  and  calculating,  capable  of  bartering  a  friend, 
or  of  casting  dice  over  an  orphan  (whose  father  should  happen  to 
die  in  their  debt).  There  is  no  sincerity  in  their  reasoning  nor 
conviction  in  their  words.  Then  abruptly  dropping  his  note 
of  scorn,  he  falls  into  a  gentler  mood.  He  begs  the  friends  but 
to  look  at  him,  they  will  see  the  truth  written  on  his  counte- 
nance. Could  he  have  been  guilty  of  any  great  wrong  and  not 
be  conscious  of  it  ?  No,  they  should  change  their  attitude,  and 
not  do  him  this  infinite  injustice. 

At  this  point  Job  takes  up  again  the  thread  of  thought  which 
he  broke  off  in  ch.  3,  and  declares  that  he  is  still  right  (that  is, 
unrefuted)  in  maintaining  that  man's  life  is  continuous  toil 
and  trouble.  Nothing  that  Eliphaz  has  been  able  to  say  has 
changed  this.  He  describes  his  own  extreme  case,  his  days  and 
nights  of  suffering,  his  utter  despair.  It  is  absurd  to  speak  of 
hope  to  him  on  this  side  of  the  grave  or  beyond.  He  may  die 
at  any  moment,  and  there  is  no  return  for  any  one  from  Sheol. 
He  will  give  vent  to  his  anguish  without  restraint,  and  he  does. 
He  complains  to  God  of  his  terrible  suffering,  in  preference  to 
which  he  would  welcome  death;  he  begs  God  to  let  him  die. 
Why  should  he  be  punished  continuously,  why  be  granted  no 


NOTES  173 

respite  whatever?  Then  referring  in  conckision  to  Eliphaz' 
endeavor  to  enUghten  him  as  to  the  cause  of  his  suffering,  he 
admits  his  imperfection.  But  even  if  he  has  (unwittingly) 
been  guilty  of  errors  and  transgressions,  why  should  God 
persecute  him  so  relentlessly?  Why  does  God  not  forgive  his 
sins  and  let  him  die  in  peace  ?  This  thought,  that  the  ordinary 
frailty  of  man  should  not  warrant  the  extreme  vengeance  of; 
God,  which  is  merely  touched  on  here,  is  developed  fully  in  the 
two  next  speeches  of  Job. 

VI.  2  With  my  calamity  laid  against  it  in  the  balance.  The  half  verse 
is  a  circumstantial  clause :  the  particle  jahad  denotes  that  the  action 
spoken  of  is  to  be  carried  out  simultaneously  with  that  stated  in  the 
first  clause. 

3  are  frenzied.  This  meaning  of  la'a,  given  also  by  Ges.-Buhl  and 
others,  is  closely  related  to  the  meaning  "  talk  rashly,"  Prov.  20.  25. 

4  are  arrayed  against  me.  As  often,  the  accusative  suffix  is  used  in 
place  of  a  prepositional  phrase ;  for  other  examples  cf .  e.g.,  Ps.  5.  5,  85. 
8 ;  ^arak  alone,  meaning  "to  be  hostilely  arrayed,"  occurs  again  I  Sam. 
4.  2,  et  alit. 

7  to  touch  them,  they  are.  The  pronoun  hema,  being  a  case  of 
brachylogy,  is  to  be  construed  both  as  object  with  lingo'a  and  as  sub- 
ject with  the  nominal  predicate  of  the  second  clause. 

12,  13  Or  is  my  flesh  of  brass?  Verily,  there  is  no  help.  |'«  S35^n 
is  an  impossible  construction  ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  masculine  form  of 
the  word  for  copper  occurs  neither  in  Hebrew,  nor  in  any  other  Semitic 
language.  Both  forms  are  due  to  mistaken  word-  or  rather  verse- 
division.  The  n  originally  belonged  to  the  last  word  of  v.  12,  which  is 
to  be  read  na^inj  —  a  form  which  occurs  again  28.  2}  D^  of  v.  13  is  em- 
phatic particle  (cf .  v.  28) .  This  emendation  and  explanation  is,  in  fact, 
as  I  have  found  quite  recently,  supported  by  the  Syr.,  which  for  ha'im 
reads  the  emphatic  particle  ha.  Salvation :  tushija,  with  the  meaning 
deliverance,  salvation,  occurs  again  Prov.  2.  7;  it  was  so  understood 
in  both  verses  by  the  Greek,  and  in  our  Job-verse,  also  by  the  Syriac. 

14  Even  though  he  departed,  etc.    The  verse  presents  no  difficulty 

1 1  made  this  emendation  as  early  as  1905,  and  have  used  it  ever  since 
in  my  class  lectures;  in  the  meantime  the  emendation  has  been  made 
also  by  Ehrlich,  Randglossen,  ad  loc,  who,  however,  did  not  recognize  the 
emphatic  force  of  'im. 


174  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

whatever  if  the  second  clause  is  taken,  as  it  must  be,  as  a  concessive 
clause.  As  to  the  construction  of  the  first  clause,  it  is  extremely 
simple ;  the  clause  forms  a  nominal  sentence,  the  subject  of  which 
is  hesed,  and  the  predicate  lamas,  and  mere'ehu  is  a  qualificative  of  hesed 
(for  similar  qualificatives,  they  are  quite  numerous,  cf .  v.  25,  "  the 
arguments  advanced  by  you,"  20.  29,  Ps.  9.  14,  '*  the  injury  done  me 
by  my  enemies,"  74.  22,  ''  the  insult  put  upon  Thee  by  the  godless"). 
Finally,  it  must  be  remarked  that  nominal  sentences  may  have  either 
indicative  or  subjunctive  mode.^ 

15-21  In  Palestine,  where  there  are  but  two  seasons,  summer  and 
winter,  only  the  large  rivers  carry  water  throughout  the  year.  The 
small  streams  flow  only  during  the  winter  months,  or  ramy  season, 
when  they  are  flooded  by  the  rain  and  snow.  In  the  nine  months  of 
intense  summer  heat,  they  form  for  a  w^hile  shallow  winding  streams 
and  finally  disappear  altogether.  The  Nabataean  and  Sabaean 
caravans  start  on  their  expedition  east  in  the  winter  and  return  in 
the  summer. 

15  Like  water  courses.  Instead  of  'afiq  n^halim,  read,  with  Budde, 
D'o  'p^SK ;  the  present  reading  is  due  primarily  to  dittography  of  nahal 
of  15a. 

16  Flooded  by  the  melting  snow.  The  customary  translation 
"  wherein  the  snow  hideth  itself,"  it  has  repeatedly  been  acknowledged, 
is  hardly  accurate.  As  the  preposition  'al  shows,  the  phrase  implies 
the  pouring  of  the  melting  snow  into  the  rivers  and  the  consequent 
increase  of  the  river's  volume.  The  exact  meaning,  however,  of 
*alemo  jith'alem  is  not  known.  I  have  rendered  the  phrase  in  keeping 
with  the  phenomenon  described  by  it.  It  may  be  added  that 
in  all  languages  the  verb  primarily  denoted  a  series  of  actions,  and 
that  in  Semitic  languages  this  primary  character  of  the  verb  is  often 
quite  apparent.  Note  in  this  connection  the  rendering  of  jith'alem  'al 
with  irruet  and  sagi  by  Vulg.  and  Syr.  respectively. 

17  When  it  groweth  warm,  they  disappear.  The  present  reading  in 
the  second  clause  is  due  to  mistaken  word-di\'ision :  divide  ']  Dn3 
(Budde  and  others). 

20  they  trusted.  Read  ^nD3,  in  accordance  with  Syr.  and  Targ. 
As  often,  the  third  plural  was  written  defectively,  and  was  not  recog- 
nized by  the  Masorites. 

21  So  have  ye  been  disappointing  to  me.    V.  21  a  is,  in  accordance 

1  Even  a  command  may  be  expressed  by  a  nominal  sentence,  cf .  e.g. 
II  Sam.  20. 1,  'ish  U'ohalaw,  ''let  every  man  return  to  his  tent." 


NOTES  175 

with  Syr.  and  Gk.  to  be  emended  'S  .  .  .  Dnx  p  —  an  emendation  which 
has  been  widely  accepted.  When  ye  saw  the  terror,  ye  were  seized  with 
fear.  The  two  clauses  in  21  b  are  not  coordinate,  but  are  in  relation 
of  protasis  and  apodosis,  the  apodosis  being  formed  by  the  imperfect 
with  waw  consecutivum. 

22  Give  me  of  your  substance :  mikkohdkem  is  to  be  construed  also 
with  the  verb  of  the  first  clause,  ki  is  a  nice  example  of  introductory 
kl. 

25  How  forcible  are  :  nimras  is  in  itself  equivocal ;  it  may  be  used 
either  in  a  bad  or  in  a  good  sense ;  used  in  the  former  sense  it  means 
''  vehement  "  (I  Ki.  2.  8,  "  a  vehement  curse  ")  and  "  grievous  "  (Mic. 
2.  10,  "  grievous  destruction  ")•  Your  reasoning:  mikkem  is  a  quali- 
ficative  of  hokeah. 

26  Do  you  mean  to  juggle  with  words  ?  Or  to  account  as  wind  the 
words.  The  customary  translation  of  the  verse  is  incorrect ;  it  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  grammatical  construction  has  not  been  understood. 
In  the  first  place,  milllm  is  not  object  of  hokah,  but  accusative  of  speci- 
fication ;  we  have  an  idiom  equivalent  to  our  "  juggle  with  words." 
In  the  second  place,  tahshohu  is  a  case  of  zeugma,  both  the  comple- 
mentary infinitive  lehokah  of  the  first  clause  and  the  object  Hmre  of  the 
second  depending  on  it. 

28  Could  I  really  dissemble  ?  V.  28  5  is  an  interrogative  clause 
and  Hm  is  emphatic  particle,  just  as  17.  13,  Prov.  3.  34,  et  alii;  this 
emphatic  Hm  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  Hm  used  in  an  oath. 

30  Verse  28  was  originally  followed  by  v.  30,  and  v.  30  by  v.  29.  This 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  pronominal  suffix  of  bah  of  v.  29  b  refers 
to  7.  1.  Would  not  etc.  'im  is  not  interrogative  'im  but  v.  30  b  is  an 
elliptical  conditional  sentence,  the  protasis  being  omitted ;  the  trans- 
lation of  Hm  properly  should  be  "  if  so."  Job  uses  metaphorical  lan- 
guage. He  asks  if  any  deadly  poison  were  on  his  tongue,  would  he 
not  notice  it  ?  Even  so,  if  he  had  committed  any  grave  sin,  would  his 
conscience  not  be  aware  of  it  ? 

29  Turn  from  your  wicked  course.  This  meaning  of  shubu  is  estab- 
lished by  the  parallel  admonition  of  Job  to  the  friends  in  13.  9-11,  and 
particularly  in  19.  28-29 : 

"  If  ye  say.  How  we  will  persecute  him, 
And  the  root  of  the  matter  is  to  be  found  in  him. 
Then  beware  the  sins  that  bring  down  the  sword  I 
For  the  Divine  wrath  will  fall  on  wrongdoers : 
Wherefore  will  ye  know  there  is  a  Judge.'.' 


176  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

For  Job  the  friends'  heartlessness  and  the  false  suspicion  they  entertain 
about  him  constitute  sin. 

VIL  1  Is  not  man's  stay  on  earth  continuous  toil  ?  The  prepositional 
phrase  'die  'ares  is  a  qualificative  of  'enosh;  saba'  with  the  meaning 
*'  serfdom  "  or  ''  toil  "  occurs  again  14.  14  and  Is.  40.  2. 

2  of  the  hireling  who  looketh  for  his  wage,  that  is  to  say,  who  works 
to  eke  out  an  existence,  as  it  is  well  expressed  Prov.  16.  26,  "  The  hunger 
of  the  toiler  toils  for  him,  it  is  his  mouth  that  impels  him  to  work." 

3  wretchedness :  shaiv\  which  11.  11,  31.  5  denotes  moral  evil,  is  here 
used  in  the  sense  of  physical  evil. 

5  as  if  with  clods  of  earth.  In  elephantiasis,  the  hardened  boils 
make  the  skin  look  as  if  it  were  covered  with  dirt ;  hence  the  suggestion 
of  an  elephant  skin,  from  wliich  the  disease  derives  its  name,  and 
breaketh  out  afresh.  Vocalize  0^^^\,  as  Targ.  and  Syr.  and  one  Heb. 
Ms.  read ;  the  verb  is  derived  from  rnasas  and  the  alef  is  vowel-letter 
to  indicate  the  tone-long  vowel  —  a  spelling  introduced  by  later  copy- 
ists due  to  the  influence  of  Aramaic. 

6,  7  b,  9.  25,  26  Job's  reflections  about  the  fleetness  of  his  life,  9.  25f ., 
do  not  belong  in  ch.  9,  the  subject  of  that  chapter  being  the  chasm  be- 
tween God  and  man  ;  they  make  a  break  in  the  thought,  as  9.  27  is  the 
continuation  of  9.  23.  Originally  9.  25,  26  must  have  stood  here,  for 
9.  25  a  is  a  variant  of  7.  6  a,  while  25  6  is  a  variant  of  7.  7  b.  In  regard 
to  9.  25  a,  we  have  direct  evidence  that  it  is  a  variant  of  7.6  a,  since  in 
the  latter  verse  Gk.  Codd.  AS  and  Prs.  249,  257  read  8po/xetos,  that 
is,  runner  (rds)  of  9.  25  a,  and  S^  has  both  readings,  as  has  also  MS. 
Ken.  117 :  loom-shuttle  runner.  Proof  that  9.  25  b  is  variant  of  7.  7  6 
may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  in  the  latter  verse  the  Boh.  read  life  as 
subject  of  see ;  my  eyes  (plur.)  follows  happiness,  forming  a  meaningless 
genitive  of  the  latter :  ehan  ayaOov  nte  nabal.  From  this  it  may  be 
concluded  that  my  eye  got  in  v.  7  6  through  dittography  from  v.  8. 
Verse  7  b,  as  9.  25  6  shows,  originally  followed  7.  6  b,  and  had  my  days 
for  its  subject ;  accordingly  omit  in  v.  7  6  'r>'  and  read  I3ity\ 
Like  v.  4  and  11,  v.  6  together  with  v.  7  6  is  a  ternary.  As  to  'im, 
like,  cf.  37.  18,  Ps.  28.  1. 

7  a,  8  Another  ternary,  that  cometh  to  see  me :  rd'i  is  a  nice  ex- 
ample of  a  potential  participle,  which  has  passed  unrecognized ;  as  an 
analogous  example  cf.  Jon.  1.  3,  ba'a,  ''bound  for."  While  one's  eyes 
rest  upon  me,  I  may  cease  to  be.  That  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  half 
verse  follows  from  the  parallelism.  As  often,  the  pronominal  suffix  of 
the  second  sing,  is  used  impersonally,  cf .  e.g.,  Jer.  4. 18,  Judg.  6.  4.  The 
two  nominal  clauses  are  in  relation  of  protasis  and  apodosis ;  in  regard 


NOTES  177 

to  I  may  cease,  see  the  remarks  on  6.  14.  This  interpretation  of  v.  8  6 
is  borne  out  also  by  the  parallel  thought  of  v.  8  a,  and  is  the  only  one 
consistent  with  it. 

9  As  the  cloud  that  passeth  by  vanisheth :  wajjelak  is  a  circumstantial 
clause,  not  coordinate  with  kald. 

12  Am  I  the  primeval  sea  or  the  dragon.  The  writer  has  reference 
to  the  Babylonian-Assyrian  creation-myth,  the  attack  by  Marduk  and 
his  hosts  on  Tiamat,  who  held  dominion  over  the  primeval  sea. 

13  suffering  :  sih  is  used  to  denote  "  grief,"  "  misery,"  "  suffering  " 
not  only  in  Job  but  also  I  Sam.  1.  16,  Ps.  102.  1,  142.  3. 

14  nightmares :  hezjonoth  does  not  denote  "  visions  "  here,  but 
"  nightmares." 

15  So  that  I  desire  to  be  choked  to  death :  nafshl  is  subject,  and  the 
in^mtive  mahdnaq  is  used  in  a  passive  sense,  to  my  pains  :  read  'r\nv;;j3. 

16  I  loathe  my  life :  ma'asti  is  ellipsis  for  ma'asti  behajjaj ;  the  full 
phrase  is  found  9.  21 ;  cf .  also  the  parallel  expressions,  10. 1  a,  and  Gen. 
27.  46,  qasti  behajjaj. 

17  hold  .  .  .  worthy  of  esteem :  tegaddel  is  here  a  declarative  Pi'el. 

19  Long  enough  at  least  to  swallow  my  spittle  is  a  proverbial  expres- 
sion common  also  to  Arabic ;  see  p.  17. 

20  Thou  who  keepest  constant  watch  on  man.  Cf.  10.  14,  14.  16. 
So  that  I  have  become  a  burden  unto  myself.  According  to  the 
Masoretic  tradition,  unto  myself  is  a  correction  for  unto  Thyself  made 
by  the  Scribes  for  dogmatic  reasons.  They  considered  the  phrase  as 
casting  reflections  on  God's  omnipotence ;  unto  Thyself  is  the  reading 
also  of  Gk. 

21  For  then,  might  I  lie  at  rest  in  the  grave,  etc.  The  verbs  of  v.  21  b 
are  not  indicative,  as  generally  thought,  but  subjunctive.  In  the 
grave;  'afar  is  a  very  common  ellipsis  for  'afar  mawet,  which  is 
found  Ps.  22.  16:  in  both  17.  16  and  20.  11,  where  the  ellipsis  occurs 
again,  the  Greek  understood  it  as  the  rendering  x^/*«>  *'  sepulchral 
mound,"  shows. 

VIII 

Synopsis.  — ■  Bildad,  like  Zophar  later,  advances  no  new  argu- 
ment on  the  question  at  issue,  but  reaffirms  the  traditional  belief 
in  retributive  justice,  more  positively  even  than  Eliphaz  had 
done.  That  retribution  follows  a  sinful  life  can  in  his  opinion  be 
doubted  no  more  than  that  the  papyrus  or  reed  withers  without 
moisture.     HediJffersJrom--£ligha^  only  jn  temperament  and 


178  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

method,  being  more  aggressive  and  outspoken  than  the  elder 
man.  He  calls  Job's  utterances  "boisterous  wind,"  reminds 
him  that  justice  is  the  foundation  of  the  Divine  world-rule,  and 
declares  that  the  tragic  fate  of  Job's  children  was  but  God's 
punishment  for  their  sins.  He  makes  no  attempt  to  disguise 
his  opinion  of  Job's  own  case,  but  exhorts  him  to  implore  God's 
mercy,  adding  that  if  he  is  pure  and  upright  he  need  not  fear, 
God  will  make  him  prosperous  again.  The  wisdom  of  the 
fathers  should  teach  him  that  "God  will  not  cast  away  the 
pious,  nor  uphold  the  evildoer." 

VIII.  2  In  this  strain;  ^eke  is  adverbial  accusative,  and  not  object, 
as  usually  taken. 

4  He  cast  them  out  of  his  presence.  As  14.  20,  shallah  is  ellipsis 
for  shallah  me'al  panaw,  cf.  Jer.  15.  1 ;  it  connotes  to  deliver  up  to  death. 
Note  the  imperfect  with  waw  consecutivum  in  the  apodosis  of  the  con- 
ditional sentence. 

6  As  often  the  temporal  particle  'atta  is  used  of  a  future  happening. 
And  would  make  thy  home  prosper  again  in  proof  of  thy  righteousness  : 
sidqeka  is  descriptive  genitive,  cf.  Is.  53.  5,  musar  shelomenu,  "  chas- 
tisement which  brought  salvation  to  us." 

9  as  a  mere  shadow ;  sel  is  accusative  of  comparison,  as  the  parallel 
case  I  Chron.  29.  15  shows. 

10  words  of  authority :  millwi  is  a  case  of  emphatic  indetermination. 

13  the  fate.  This  meaning  of  'orhdth  admits  of  no  doubt,  as  the  word 
is  used  with,  the  same  meaning  Prov.  1.  19,  and  Jer.  12.  4  (where  the 
text  originally  read  'orhothenu),  vdth.  the  similar  meaning  ''plight  " ; 
the  emendation  made  by  Beer-Kittel  and  others  is  unwarranted; 
Ta  tdxara  of  Gk.  is  paraphrase,  in  Prov.  1.  19  Gk.  rendered  accuratel}' 
ri  KaTa(TTpo(f>r]. 

14  as  gossamer ;  jaqot  is  not  a  verb  but  on  the  authority  of  Saadia 
a  substantive. 

,  15  Which  will  not  stand  if  one  leaneth  against  it,  etc.  The  verse 
is  a  composite  relative  clause  the  antecedent  of  which  is  spider's  web, 
beth  'akablsh  of  v.  14 ;  the  first  part  of  this  composite  substantive  is 
repeated  in  the  relative  clause,  and  the  verbs  are  used  impersonally. 
The  difficulty  the  exegetes  found  with  the  verse  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  failed  to  recognize  its  construction. 

17  penetrate  the  stones :  jeliezoB  is,  as  many  hold,  not  from  haza,  "  to 


NOTES  179 

behold,"  but  is  either  from  haza,  meaning  "  to  pierce,"  or  more  probably 
from  hazaz  (the  verb  from  which  tei^;,'' thunderbolt,"  is  derived), in 
which  case  jahoza  —  with  cohortative  he  —  is  to  be  vocalized.  As 
Ezek.  41.  9,  bet  sela'oth  "  intervening  space,"  Prov.  8.  2,  bet  nethlboth 
"  cross-roads,  "  bet  is  the  contracted  form  of  bajnat,  the  fem.  of  ben. 
The  form  is  neither  due  to  a  mistake,  nor  is  it  an  Aramaism,  but  a 
genuine  Hebrew  form :  this  is  obvious  both  from  the  fem.  plur.  benoth 
and  the  dual  benajim.  All  three  examples  are  cases  of  ben,  which  is 
primarily  a  substantive,  having  still  preserved  its  nominal  declension ; 
similar  cases  with  the  masculine  form  are  24.  11,  ben  shurotham,  "  shut 
in  by  walls,"  Prov.  26.  13,  ben  harehoboth,  "  abroad,"  and  the  frequent 
ben  'enajim,  "  forehead."  The  use  of  the  preposition  in  our  case  here 
has  its  exact  analogy  in  Zech.  13.  6  "  the  scars  "  ben  jadceka  "  on  thy 
hand  "  :  ben  finds  its  explanation  in  the  space  which  the  roots  and  the 
scars  take  up  on  the  stone  and  the  hand  respectively.^ 

19  Such,  truly,  will  be  the  end.  As  Is.  8.  6,  mesos  is  construct  in- 
finitive of  masas  with  samek :  the  spelling  with  sin  is  due  to  Aramaic 
orthography;  it  was  correctly  understood  by  Gk.  which  renders 
KaTa(7Tpo<j)rj. 

21  He  will  yet  fill.  No  emendation  is  required ;  'ad  here  is  not  con- 
junction but  adverb  meaning  at  last,  finally,  yet,  just  as  Exod.  15.  16, 
Is.  32.  15  et  alii. 

ix-:^ 

See  Introduction,  Chapter  II,  pp.  48-50.  To  the  analysis 
given  there  a  few  remarks  are  to  be  added.  The  speech  is  a 
continuation  of  the  line  of  thought  with  which  Job  was  occupied 
in  the  conclusion  of  his  previous  speech.  In  opening  it  with 
the  admission,  "  Indeed  I  know  that  it  is  so  —  How  could  man 
be  just  in  the  presence  of  God?"  Job  has  not  reference  to 
anything  Bildad  says  —  he  ignores  Bildad's  speech  altogether,  f^ 
since  it  advances  no  new  argument  —  but  to  the  main  point 
urged  by  Eliphaz,  that  man  cannot  be  just  in  the  sight  of  God. 
Job  takes  this  idea,  a  familiar  one  to  his  contemporaries,  but 
unfolds  it  In  a  way  quite  foreign  to  their  mode  of  thought. 

1  For  similar  examples  in  Arabic  and  Syriac  see  Brockelmann,  Ver- 
gleichende  Grammatik  d.  Seinit.  Sprachen,  II,  p.  360f . ;  the  cases  in  Hebrew 
escaped  Brockelmann's  notice. 


180  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

With  the  disiilusionment  that  has  come  to  him  through  his 
suffering,  has  come  also  a  deeper  insight  into  spiritual  problems, 
and  he  perceives,  though  for  the  present  dimly  and  gropingly, 
the  fallacy  involved  in  his  former  reasoning  about  God.  He 
feels  his  mind  confounded  by  the  mystery  attending  God's 
dealings  with  man,  by  the  contemplation  of  the  unbridgeable 
chasm  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite ;  and  he  declares  that, 
even  though  he  knows  himself  innocent  of  wrongdoing,  if  con- 
fronted by  the  infinite  majesty  of  God,  he  would  have  to  con- 
demn himself  (9.  19  b,  20).  He  describes  his  perplexity  more 
fully  in  the  verses  with  which  he  concludes  his  reflections  on 
this  point : 

"  If  I  think,  I  will  forget  my  anguish, 

I  will  dispel  my  gloom  and  appear  cheerful, 

Even  then  I  am  wTought  up  because  of  my  suffering 

I  know  that  Thou  wilt  not  absolve  me. 

I  needs  must  stand  condemned, 

Why  make  vain  efforts  ? 

If  I  washed  myself  with  snow, 

And  cleansed  my  hands  with  lye, 

Thou  wouldst  plunge  me  in  the  mire. 

So  that  my  clothes  would  abhor  me. 

He  is  not  a  man,  as  I  am,  that  I  could  give  accounting  to  Him, 

That  we  could  go  together  to  the  tribunal. 

Would  that  there  were  an  umpire  between  us, 

Wlio  could  arbitrate  between  us  both. 

So  that  He  might  remove  His  scourge  from  me. 

Then  I  might  speak  without  dreading  Him. 

As  it  is  my  mind  is  thrown  into  confusion, 

I  am  loath  to  live." 

Job  proceeds  now  to  amplify  the  thought  which  he  but  touched 
upon  in  the  conclusion  of  his  previous  speech  (incidentally  he 
brings  out  a  new  aspect  of  the  problem  of  suffering),  that  God 


NOTES  181 

should  not  mete  out  such  extreme  punishment  for  unintentional 
sins.  He  argues  that  by  avenging  every  wrong  and  error  into 
which  man  by  reason  of  his  human  imperfection  is  bound  to  fall, 
God  renders  void  the  gift  of  life  and  love  which  he  bestowed 
upon  man.  The  chapter,  which  is  marked  by  a  certain  tone,  as  of 
intimacy  with  God,  forms  a  striking  contrast  to  the  preceding 
chapter,  in  which  the  prevailing  strain  is  the  aloofness  which 
Job  feels  exists  between  God  and  man.  The  change  of  tone  is 
brought  out  by  a  very  simple  device,  by  Job's  appealing  directly 
to  God,  and  addressing  Him_.tliroughout  the  chapter  in  the 
second  person.     Cf,  also  comment  on^O.  12. 

IX.  4  Howsoever  wise  and  courageous.  The  attributives,  v.  4  a, 
can  be  in  apposition  only  to  the  subject  ml,  their  position  leaves 
no  doubt  about  this.  Who  could  defy  Him  and  escape  unscathed: 
hiqshd  is  ellipsis  for  hiqshd  'oref;  wajjishlam  is  a  case  of  imperfect  with 
waw  consecutivum,  forming  a  circumstantial  clause. 

6  the  pillars  thereof  totter.  This  expression,  which  occurs  repeatedly 
in  Biblical  literature  (cf .  38. 6,  Ps.  75.  4,  104.  5,  Prov.  8.  29) ,  has  its  origin 
in  the  prevailing  view  of  antiquity  that  the  earth  forms  a  disk  resting 
on  pillars  erected  in  the  sea.  The  location  of  these  pillars  was  thought 
to  be  in  the  gap  between  Africa  and  Eurasia  or  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar ; 
cf.  the  pillars  of  Hercules.  The  writer  of  Job,  however,  had  attained 
a  more  advanced  view  about  the  universe,  as  26.  7  shows  :  he  uses  the 
popular  expression  here  merely  for  the  poetic  effect. 

7  Who  commandeth  the  sun  not  to  rise  and  sealeth  up  the  stars. 
From  the  second  clause  it  is  clear  that  the  writer  has  reference,  not  only 
to  astronomical,  but  also  to  atmospheric  obscuration  of  the  celestial 
bodies.  Similarly,  in  Assyrian  astrological  texts  the  writers  do  not 
distinguish  between  astronomical  and  atmospheric  obscuration  of  sun 
and  moon.i 

8  Who  .  .  .  hath  dominion  over  the  billows  of  the  sea.  In  regard 
to  the  meaning  of  hdmoih^  jam,  billows  of  the  sea,  cf .  the  analogous 
expression  Is.  14.  14  hamothe  'ah,  "  billowy  clouds,"  and  German 
"  Wellenberg  "  and  "  Wolkenberg."  darak  with  'al  rei  means  "  to 
have  dominion  over,"  cf.  Deut.  33.  29,  Am.  4.  13,  Mic.  1.  3. 
In  proof  of  this  meaning  note  that  hidrik,  like  the  synonymous  hirqib 

1  Cf.  Kugler,  A  stronomische  und  Meteorologische  Finsternisse  (Eine  Assy- 
riologische  Untersuchung),  ZDMG.,  LVI  (1902),  pp.  61ff. 


K 


182  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

\Ndth  ace.  pers.  and  'al  rei  denotes  "  to  give  a  person  control  "  or  "su- 
premacy over"  (cf.  Deut.  32.  13,  Is.  58.  14,  Hab.  3.  19).  There  is 
but  a  shade  of  difference  between  this  meaning  of  the  two  phrases  and 
that  with  which  the  second  is  used  Ps.  66.  12,  "  You  let  men  domineer 
over  us,"  or  "  ride  over  us,"  as  the  RV.  translates  well.  The  last 
passage  is  not  in  the  least  obscure,  Ges.-Buhl  to  the  contrary;  nor 
can  it  be  explained  on  the  ground  of  the  custom  of  the  victor's  passing 
over  the  body  of  the  vanquished  person  ;  this  could  not  possibly  have 
been  expressed  by  h.  Ura'shenu;  the  expression  for  this  custom  is  either 
"  to  walk  over  a  person,"  'abar  'al  (Is.  51.  23)  or  ''  to  put  one's  feet  upon 
the  neck  of  the  person  "  (Josh.  10.  24). 

9  The  Bear,  Orion,  and  the  Pleiades.  It  is  generally  thought  to 
be  as  good  as  certain  that  Orion  is  meant  by  Kesll,  but  that  it  is  quite 
doubtful  what  constellations  are  meant  by  Kimd  and  'Ash.  It  may 
be  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  traditional  rendering  of  these  two 
names  is  well  founded.  (1)  Klina  or  Kema  as  name  of  the  Pleiades 
has  up  to  this  day  been  preserved  among  the  Bedouin  of  North- 
Abyssinia  ;  1  Klma,  w^hich  means  a  group  or  bundle  of  stars,  is  a  most 
appropriate  name  for  the  Pleiades ;  similarly  the  Babylonian  ideogram 
Mul  Mill  for  the  Pleiades  signifies  a  bundle  of  stars. "^  Further  in  Talm. 
Berak.  58  6,  Kima  is  spoken  of  as  the  constellation  of  the  winter  season 
when  the  rivers  of  Palestine  are  flooded,  and  in  Babylonian-Ass>Tian 
texts  the  Pleiades  are  called  the  constellation  of  the  floods.^  (2)  The 
constellation  'Ashis  spoken  of  38.  32  as  'ajsh  'al banceha  "  with  her  sons  " 
or  "  young,"  which  corresponds  to  the  banat  na'sh,  "  the  daughters 
of  na'sh,"  by  which  in  Arabic  either  the  three  front  stars  of  Ursa  Maior 
are  meant,  or  the  entire  constellation  ;  note  that  in  North-Abyssinian 
folklore  the  seven  stars  of  Ursa  Maior  are  called  the  Seven  Brothers} 
No  argum^ent  against  these  deductions  can  be  advanced  from  the 
names  IIActaSa  koX  "Eo-Trepov  Kttt  ApKTovpov  of  Gk. :  for  since  in 
38.  31  Gk.  renders  Klma  and  KesU  correctly  IlXetaSos  .  .  .  *0/otWos, 
it  is  obvious  that  UXudSa  here  cannot  be  the  rendering  of  'Ash, 
nor  "Ecnrepov  and  ^ApKTovpov  of  Kesll  and  Kiind ;  rather  the  former 
is  the  rendering  of  Kl7na,  and  the  latter  are  substituted  for  'Ash 
and    Kesll.    The  substitution  was  made  at  a  time  when,    owing 

1  Cf .  Littmann,  Sternensagen  und  Astrologisches  aus  Nordahessinien  in 
ARW.,  XI  (1908),  p.  299. 

2  Cf.  Kugler,  Sternkunde  und  Sterndienst  in  Babel,  Erganzungen,  II. 
Teil  (1914),  p.  151f. 

3  Cf .  Kugler,  ib.  p.  153. 

4  Cf .  Littmann,  ib.  and  pp.  303,  309f. 


NOTES  183 

to  the  influence  of  apocalyptic  notions,  constellations  represent- 
ing the  four  points  of  the  compass  were  looked  for  in  our  verse. 
The  Chambers  of  the  South,  i.e.,  the  Chambers  of  the  Southern  Sky, 
rafxcla  tov  Notou,  from  which,  according  to  37.  9,  the  warm 
South-wind  comes  that  brings  heat  and  storms.  In  later  astrological 
and  apocalyptic  literature  the  Chambers  of  the  South  are  identified  with 
the  constellation  Altar,  near  the  Southern  horizon,  where  Hades  was 
believed  to  be  located,  and  where,  according  to  Rev.  6.  9,  IV  Ezra  4. 
35f.,  7.  95,  Syr.  Baruch  30.  2,  the  souls  of  the  righteous  were  kept.i 

11  If  He  passed  by  me :  hen,  as  already  understood  by  Gk.,  is  con- 
ditional particle,  but  not  an  Aramaism.  To  consider  every  case  of  the 
use  of  hen  as  conditional  particle  in  Biblical  Hebrew  as  an  Aramaism 
would  necessitate  resorting  to  an  unwarranted  method  of  criticism. 
I  should  not  perceive  Him.  No  emendation  of  'er'os  is  required,  the 
subject  of  ja'abor  being  the  implied  object  of  'er'ce  —  a  construction 
which  occurs  quite  frequently,  cf .  Exod.  32.  24,  Is.  47. 11-12,  Jer.  13. 19, 
Ezek.  5.  11,  all  of  which  are  to  be  classed  as  examples  of  brachylogy. 

11.  10,  9.  12  Verse  10  of  ch.  11,  which  does  not  fit  in  its  present  con- 
text, formed  originally  a  part  of  v.  12  of  ch.  9.  At  one  time  in  the 
transmission  of  the  text,  wejasglr  wejaqhil  had  been  omitted,  and  the 
copyist  put  the  omission,  together  with  the  tw^o  preceding  and  the 
two  following  words  as  a  cue,  in  the  margin,  whence  the  whole  was 
WTongly  inserted  in  11.  10  by  a  subsequent  copyist. 

13  God  need  not  restrain  His  wrath,  etc.  The  customary  rendering 
"  doth  not  restrain  "  is  not  permissible,  for  if  the  wTiter  had  meant  to 
express  a  general  truth  proved  by  experience,  he  would  have  used  the 
perfect.  The  writer  implies  that  God  cannot  be  held  in  check  by  any 
external  power,  he  overpowered  even  Rahab  and  her  helpers.  The 
defeat  which  at  the  time  of  creation  Marduk  dealt  Tiamat  and  the 
monsters  fighting  at  her  side  is  transferred  to  Yahweh,  just  as  in  26.  12f . 
and  Is.  51.  9,  both  of  which  have  in  common  wdth  our  v.  13  the  name 
Rahab  for  Tiamat.  As  an  interesting  parallel  to  our  verse  the  following 
line  from  the  Babylonian  Creation-hymn  may  be  quoted ;  "  Against 
his  (Marduk's)  mighty  attack  no  resistance  avails."  subdued  by 
Him  :  tahtaw  is  adverbial  accusative,  properly  speaking  Hal;  as  often 
elsewhere,  tahath  has  still  retained  its  primary  function  as  substantive. 

14  Would  i  know  how  to  choose.  Any  sort  of  modal  statement  may 
in  Hebrew  be  expressed  by  the  imperfect ;  the  exact  meaning  with 
which  it  is  used  must  in  each  case  be  determined  by  the  context. 

1  See  Fr.  Boll,  Aus  der  Offenbarung  Johannis,  pp.  33£f. 


184  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

15  of  my  opponent,  meshofet  is  participle  po'el,  by  which  reciprocal 
action  is  expressed.  That  Theod.'s  reading  mishpati  rests  on  a  mis- 
understanding is  shown  by  the  fact  that  hithhannen  can  only  mean 
implore  mercy  or  favor ;  the  emendation  of  the  text  on  the  strength  of 
Theod.  by  some  scholars  has  been  a  serious  mistake. 

17  Who  threateneth  to  crush  me.  Cf.  the  remark  to  v.  14.  Why 
any  one  should  question  the  meaning  to  crush  of  shuf,  either  here  or 
Gen.  3.  15,  one  fails  to  see.  for  no  cause :  hinnam  is  adverbial  accusa- 
tive. 

19  Behold  Him!  or  There  He  is.  The  text  is  perfect ;  as  Jer.  4. 16,  Gen. 
16.  14  (also  18.  9  and  I  Sam.  9.  12)  hinne  forms  an  elliptical  sentence, 
the  subject  being  omitted.  The  elliptical  use  of  the  emphatic  particle 
is  common  also  to  Arabic,  as  the  examples  quoted  by  Lane  {Arab.  Diet., 
I,  p.  llOf.)  show.  The  objection  raised  by  the  Arabian  grammarians 
against  such  sentences  does  not  hold,  since  the  emphatic  particle  is  pri- 
marily a  verbum  substantivum.  who  dare  summon  Him.  Instead  of 
id%deni  read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  &  Syr.,  ^^T>'i'  (Beer  and  others). 

20,  21  Even  though  I  am  righteous  .  .  .  though  I  am  innocent. 
That  the  customary  translation  which  takes  these  two  clauses  as  hy- 
pothetical is  wrong  is  conclusively  shown  by  Job's  emphatic  reitera- 
tion in  V.  21,  innocent  am  I.  By  I  do  not  care  for  my  life  Job  means 
to  say  that  he  will  insist  on  his  innocence  even  though,  as  the  friends 
maintain,  this  might  have  serious  consequences. 

23  its  victims.  The  genitive  neqijim  of  v.  23  b  is  to  be  construed  also 
as  object  with  the  verb  of  v.  23  a,  being  a  case  of  brachylogy.  at  the 
despair,  massaih  is  derived  from  masas;  with  the  same  meaning  the 
verb  is  used  6.  14. 

Verse  24  I  should  be  inclined  to  place  after  12.6;  not  only  does  the 
thought  of  the  latter  verse  then  become  more  rounded  and  complete, 
but  also  12.  7-8  becomes  more  pointed.  It  cannot  be  said  that  v.  24 
is  entirely  out  of  place  here,  but  the  chapter  is  certainly  more  coherent 
without  it.  The  subject  matter  is  the  chasm  between  the  finite  and 
the  Infinite,  and  bound  up  with  it  the  mystery  of  God's  dealings  with 
man  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  ills  of  nature  fall  mdiscriminately  upon 
the  good  and  the  wicked. 

25,  26.    See  7.  6. 

28  I  am  wrought  up.  With  this  meaning  gur  is  used  again  Hos. 
10.  5.  This  meaning  follows  from  vv.  27-35 :  note  the  emphatic  re- 
assertion  of  the  idea  in  the  concluding  verse,  "  my  mind  is  thrown  into 
confusion." 

29  Why  make  vain  efforts  ?    hebel  is  adverbial  accusative. 


NOTES  185 

30  with  snow.  Read,  in  accordance  with  the  Kethib,  hemo;  the 
Kere  heme  just  illustrates  the  Masorites'  lack  of  critical  acumen  in 
changing  the  reading. 

31  in  the  mire.     By  shahat  a  pit  with  marshy  bottom  is  meant. 

33  Would  that  there  might  be.  Read,  in  accordance  with  13  Mss., 
Gk.  and  Syr.,  ^\  (Beer-Kittel  and  others).  That  this  must  have  been 
the  original  reading  is  self-evident,  Id'  jesh  being  impossible  Hebrew ; 
"  there  is  not  "  would  have  been  expressed  by  'en.  As  II  Sam.  18.  12, 
19.  7,  lu  was  written  with  alef,  which  the  Masorites  failed  to  recognize  ; 
lu  jesh  occurs  again  16.4.  Who  might  arbitrate  between  us  both. 
Ps.  139.  5,  wattasheth  'alaj  kappeka  means  "  Thou  holdst  me  in  re- 
straint "  or  "  in  check  "  ;  accordingly  jasheth  jado  'al  sMnenu  means 
''  exert  restraining  power  on  either  of  the  contending  pa^rties,"  i.e. 
act  as  an  arbiter. 

35  My  mind  is  thrown  into  confusion.  Like  'im  with  a  pronominal 
suffix  in  10.  13,  23.  14,  I  Ki.  11.  11,  Hmmadl  is  used  as  equivalent  to 
my  mind,  ken  is  not  the  particle  ken,  as  it  is  generally  thought  to  be, 
but  verbal  adjective  of  kun;  it  forms  with  Hmmadi  a  compound, 
meaning  "  mental  poise,"  and  with  the  negative  Id',  a  compound  mean- 
ing mental  confusion.  Taken  in  this  way,  lo'  ken  'immadl  makes 
excellent  sense,  whereas  the  customary  translation,  ''for  I  am  not  so 
in  myself,"  hardly  convej^s  any  meaning.  How  the  specific  meaning 
of  the  adjective  phrase  lo'  ken  is  in  each  case  determined  by  the  con- 
text may  be  seen  from  the  following  examples :  II  Ki.  17.  9,  debarlm 
'dsher  lo'  ken,  "  wrong  things,"  Is,  16.  6,  lo'  ken  haddaw,  "  their  talk  is 
insincere,"  Jer.  23.  10,  gehuratham  lo'  ken,  "  their  power  is  pernicious," 
Prov.  15.  7,  leb  hakkesil  lo'  ken,  "  the  heart  of  fools  is  fickle." 

X.  1 1  will  give  way  to  my  despair.  The  pronominal  suffix  of  'alaj  is 
reflexive ;  similar  examples  are  30.  16,  Ps.  42.  5,  6,  7,  Lam.  3.  20,  Jon. 
2.  8,  Jer.  8.  18. 

3  And  thou  shinest  upon  the  council  of  the  wicked  has  no  bearing 
whatever  on  the  subject  of  ch.  10  ;  it  is  by  many  scholars  rightly  con- 
sidered a  gloss. 

4  as  man  seeth :   'enosh  is  accusative  of  comparison. 

7  Although.  As  16.  17,  34.  6,  Am.  5.  9,  'al  means  in  spite  of.  can 
deliver  :   inassll  is  a  case  of  potential  participle. 

8  Yet  thou  hast  turned.  Instead  of  jahad  sablb  read,  in  accordance 
with  Gk.  &  Syr.  ^li^D  *inN  ~  an  emendation  which  has  been  widely 
accepted  :  in  a  similar  sense,  sabab  is  used  I  Sam.  22.  17f. 

9  perishable  as  clay.     Cf.  Dan.  2.  42. 

10,  11  Didst  Thou  not  cast  me  in  a  mold  like  milk,  and  curdle  me 


186  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

like  cheese,  clothe  me  with  skin  and  flesh,  and  intertwine  me  with 
bones  and  sinews.  Unexpected  light  is  tlirowm  on  these  two  verses 
from  the  medical  passage  in  Burzujeh's  Introduction  to  Kallilah  and 
Dimnah  (the  Pahlavi  Version  of  Pangatantra) : 

''  When  the  moisture  out  of  which  the  complete  child  is  to  be  formed 
enters  the  uterus,  it  becomes  fused  with  her  moisture  and  blood,  curdles, 
and  becomes  clotted.  Thereupon,  a  wind  stirs  this  moisture,  and  it 
becomes  like  whey  ( Kdsewasser),  and  then  like  solid  thick  milk.  After 
a  certain  number  of  days,  the  different  members  of  the  body  separate 
themselves." 

Thip  description  of  the  Pahlavi  physician  Burzujeh,  as  J.  Hertel  has 
pointea  out,  is  based  on  the  Hindu  view  of  the  formation  and  growth 
of  the  foetus  in  the  mother's  womb.^  The  parallel  description  in 
Job  shows  that  this  view  must  have  been  generally  entertained  in  an- 
cient times.  These  verses,  like  26.  7  and  the  questions  of  chs.  38-39 
as  to  the  physical  laws  governing  nature,  show  that  the  writer  of  Job 
was  fully  versed  in  the  science  of  his  age. 

12  Life  and  love  Thou  hast  bestowed  upon  me,  and  Thy  care  hath 
guarded  my  spirit.  The  view  expressed  in  the  verse  is  of  extreme 
importance  for  the  interpretation  of  chs.  9-10.  It  shows  that,  although 
Job  wTestles  with  God,  he  is  conscious  of  his  absolute  dependence  upon 
Him.  Similarly  in  21.  16  he  declares  "  Far  be  from  me  the  view  taken 
by  the  wicked  "  that  their  prosperity  is  the  work  of  their  own  hands. 

13  Thou  hast  had  in  mind.  As  a  parallel  to  this  meaning  of  zo'th 
Hmmak  the  Koran  expression  dhaiu  'l-sudur,  "  what  is  in  one's  mind," 
or  "  thought,"  may  be  m^entiond. 

15  steeped  m  misery.     Read,  as  commonly  emended,  nn. 

16  deal  mysteriously:  cf.  the  similar  meaning  with  which  hafli  is 
used  Is.  29.  14.  Wouldst  summon  ever  new  witnesses.  By  witnesses 
his  affliction  is  meant,  cf.  16.  8,  where  this  is  expressly  stated. 

17  Wouldst  ever  increase  thy  anger  with  me,  wouldst  heap  ever 
new  relays  of  misery  upon  me.  The  half  verse  is  perfect,  requiring 
no  emendation  :  thereb  is  a  case  of  zeugma,  hallfoth  ivesaba'  being  another 
object  of  it,  and  the  latter  phrase  is  a  hendiadys;  hallfoth  with  the 
meaning  relays  occurs  again  I  Kj.  5.  28,  and  as  to  sdba^  meaning  misery, 
cf.  7.  1. 

18  Why  did  I  not  die?  At  the  beginning  of  v.  18  h  msert  (as  widely 
emended)  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  «Si ;  lamma  governs  both  clauses. 

^  See  Das  Pangatanira.  Seine  Geschichte  und  seine  Verbreitung  (1914), 
pp.  367ff. 


NOTES  187 

19  Carried  from  the  womb  to  the  grave.  Verse  19  6  is  a  nice  example 
of  a  circumstantial  clause. 

20  the  days  of  my  life  . .  .  leave  me  in  peace.  Read,  in  accordance 
with  Gk.  and  Syr.,  ^"^  "i/n  'r:i\  the  first  part  of  which  is  widely 
accepted.  The  present  reading  is  due  in  the  first  place  to  dittography 
of  the  final  jod  of  jeme,  and  in  the  second,  to  mistaken  word  division, 
the  final  jod  of  heldi  being  joined  to  sJnth;  in  consequence  of  these  two 
mistakes  the  I  and  d  of  heldi  were  transposed  to  read  jehdal.  shlth  is 
elliptical  for  shlth  libka ;  the  preposition  min  gives  the  phrase  the  oppo- 
site meaning  from  that  which  it  has  when  construed  with  'el. 

22  The  land  of  gloom  and  chaos,  where,  even  when  it  groweth  light, 
the  gloom  of  the  shadow  of  death  prevaileth.  The  verse  originally 
read:  nioSi* Sd5< IDD jL^sm  Dmo  «^1  r^DSjp  y^i^  —  welo'  sedarwi  ivattofa' 
were  omitted,  and  then  put  in  the  margin,  together  with  the  two 
following  words  as  a  cue,  and  the  whole  was  subsequently  joined  to 
the  end  of  the  verse,  instead  of  being  inserted  in  its  proper  place.  Note 
that  the  copyist  who  was  responsible  for  the  omission,  not  only  added 
kemo  'ofel  as  a  cue,  but  indicated  the  place  of  the  omission  also  by  a 
pasek;  there  are  many  examples  of  this  function  of  the  pasek.  The 
third  fem.  sing.  wattofa\  is  used  impersonally;  the  imperfect  with 
waw  consecutivum  in  the  protasis  occurs  again  11.  3,  14.  10.  When 
it  groweth  light :  it  was  believed  that  day  and  night  alternated  even 
in  the  nether  world. 


XI 


Synopsis.  —  Zophar  surpasses  evenBildad  in  fanaticism  and 
ruthlessness.  The  utterances  of  Job,  which,  WTuhg  from  the 
depths  of  his  tortured  soul,  are  in  reality  more  of  a  cry  to  God 
than  an  answer  to  the  friends,  are  to  Zophar  mere  chatter,  his  in- 
sistent declaration  of  innocence,  a  scoffing  at  religion.  He  wishes 
that  God  might  speak  to  teach  Job  humility,  and  to  make  him 
realize  that  He  has  not  exacted  punishment  from  him  for  the  full 
measure  of  his  sin.  By  "the  empty-headed"  and  "the  wild  ass 
colt"  that  will  be  cured  from  their  folly  and  have  their  obstinacy 
broken  by  suffering,  he  means  Job  himself.  He  does  not  bring 
out  any  new  idea.  His  remarks  about  the  unfathomableness 
of  God,  following  Job's  description  of  the  omnipotence  and 


188  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

infinite  majesty  of  God,  sound  like  mere  commonplaces.  He 
concludes  with  an  unkind  thrust  at  Job's  affliction.  See  also 
comment  on  vv.  3-4. 

XI.  2  the  wordy  person.  As  pointed  out  before  (4.  2)  roh  debarlm 
is  elliptical  for  hamedabber  rob  debarlm;  it  was  recognized  as  such  by 
both  Gk.,  6  Ttt  TToAAa  Aeyiov,  and  Vulg.,  qui  multa  loquitur.  Both 
versions  correctly  took  the  phrase  as  adverbial  accusative ;  the  con- 
clusion drawn  by  some  scholars  from  TroXXa  and  midta  that  Gk.  and 
Vulg.  read  rob  was  hasty.  The  Hebrew  phrase  %sh  sefathajim  is  equiv- 
alent to  German  "  Maulheld,"  and  to  Engl,  vain  talker. 

3,  4  when  thou  scoffest,  i.e.  at  religion,  by  maintaining,  as  the  follow- 
ing verse  states,  My  words  are  honest,  and  I  am  innocent  in  Thine 
eyes  :  wattomer  is  a  circumstantial  clause.  In  addition  to  Job's  decla- 
ration 9.  21,  10.  15,  Zophar  has  reference  to  what  Job  asserted  6.  28,  30. 
Inasmuch  as  Job  by  these  declarations  was  denying  the  validity  of  the 
belief  in  retributive  justice,  he  was  in  Zophar's  opinion  scoffing  at  reli- 
gion. The  version  of  v.  3  in  the  Greek  differs  essentially  from  that  of 
the  Hebrew  original,  being  more  conciliatory.  Attention  may  also 
be  drawn  to  Gk.  v.  3  a,  evXoyrjfJiivos  y€vvYjTo<;  ywaiKos  oAtyo^to?.  This 
sentence  can  in  no  wise  be  explained  as  being  due  to  misreading  of 
the  Hebrew  of  v.  3  a,  Beer  to  the  contrary,  but  must  originally  have 
been  added  by  a  reader  either  as  a  marginal  correction  or  as  a  com- 
ment to  14.  1,  whence  it  must  have  gotten  in  here. 

6  the  things  hidden  from  wisdom.  The  customary  translation,  "  the 
secrets  of  wisdom,"  which  obscures  the  meanmg,  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  translators  failed  to  recognize  that  hokma  is  objective  genitive. 
Too  mysterious  for  understanding.  Read,  as  generally  emended,  0/3 
omitting  3 ;  the  present  reading,  which  makes  absolutely  no  sense,  is 
due  to  dittograph}^  of  the  preceding  kl  WTitten  originally  -wdthout  vowel- 
letter.  He  reckoneth  not  renders  jashshce  according  to  its  sense ;  the 
word  means  properly  He  casts  into  oblivion  or  obliterates  from  memory; 
by  the  use  of  the  imperfect  Zophar  means  to  imply  that  not  only  in  the 
present  case,  but  again  and  again  God  has  been  similarly  indulgent 
to  Job.     Many  of  thy  sins ;  min  is  partitive  min. 

8,  9  Higher  is  He  .  .  .  deeper  is  He  .  .  .  longer  is  He  .  .  .  vaster 
is  He.  The  adjective  phrases  of  these  two  verses  are  in  apposition 
to  takllth  shaddaj  of  v.  7 ;  in  v.  9  iTin  is  to  be  vocalized,  as  the  parallel- 
ism rehaba  shows  (Ewald  and  others). 

11  Giveth  heed  to  it.    lo'  is  one  of  the  many  cases  where  the  pronom- 


NOTES  189 

inal  suffix  of  the  third  sing.  masc.  mth  le  is  ^vritten  with  alef;  both 
Gk.  and  Syr.  read  it  as  such.  That  this  is  the  original  reading  cannot 
be  doubted.  It  continues  the  thought  more  surely,  intensifies  it,  whereas 
the  customary  translation  weakens  the  thought.  Zophar  emphasizes 
that  God  keeps  a  vigilant  eye  on  the  evil  doer,  and  closely  marks  his 
evil  deeds  in  order,  as  the  following  verse  implies,  that  he  may  mete 
out  corrective  punishment.  Bj^  the  customary  translation  of  the  last 
clause,  "even  though  He  considereth  it  not,"  the  point  of  the  verse 
is  lost :  the  main  stress  falls  on  the  statement  that  God  notices  the 
evil  even  without  paying  attention  to  it,  and  the  sequence  of  thought 
between  v.  11  and  12  is  seriously  impaired. 

12  So  the  empty-headed  man  gaineth  understanding,  and  the  wild- 
ass  colt  is  reborn  as  man.  As  to  the  grammar  of  this  much  debated 
verse,  the  following  may  be  remarked:  nahuh  is  attributive  to  %sh; 
jillabeb  is  a  denominative  verb  meaning  one  has  or  attains  understanding; 
in  the  second  clause  'ajir  is  subject  and  'adam  is  adverbial  accusative 
(Hal).  That  this  translation  and  interpretation  of  v.  12  is  the  only 
consistent  one  is  rightly  the  view  of  many  scholars.  Verse  12  supple- 
ments V.  11 :  it  brings  out  for  what  purpose  God  pays  close  attention 
to  the  sinners.  By  inflicting  punishment  upon  them  He  seeks  to  break 
their  obstinacy  and  to  effect  a  change  of  heart,  so  that  they  may 
humble  themselves  before  Him,  as  Zophar  admonishes  Job  to  do  in  the 
following  verses  13-14.  By  the  translation  given  of  v.  12  the  trend  of 
thought  of  w.  11-14  is  perfect,  whereas  by  the  traditional  translation 
the  sequence  is  missing. 

15  Surely,  then,  mightest  thou  lift  up  thy  head  without  harm  is  in 
refutation  of  Job's  complaint  in  10.  15f .,  "  If  I  am  righteous,  I  may  not 
dare  lift  up  my  head  "  etc.  Thou  wouldst  be  established  as  on  a  rock. 
The  passive  participle  Qal  jasuq  and  the  participle  Hof'al  musdq,  as 
well  as  the  substantive  musaq,  which  mean  elsewhere  respectively  cast 
or  molten  (metal),  and  casting,  are  used  in  Job  to  denote  firm  as  stone 
2ind  firmness  of  stone;  cf.  41.  15f.,  "His  fleshy  flakes  form  a  solid 
masSji  they  are  firm  as  stone  upon  him  without  moving ;  his  heart  is 
as  firm  as  stone,  as  firm  as  the  lower  millstone  "  (which  in  contrast  to 
the  upper  is  immovable) ;  and  38.  38,  "  When  the  ground  is  hardened 
to  the  firmness  of  rock,  and  the  clods  form  a  solid  mass."  In  41.  16 
we  have  the  full  phrase,  ja^uq  kemo  'eben,  while  in  41.  15,  38.  38,  and 
in  the  verse  here  jasuq  and  musaq  are  used  elUptically,  'eben  being 
omitted.  Another  case  of  ihe  full  phrase  i^  iu  aU  probability  28.  2, 
"  tough-tissued  as  stone  " ;  cf .  also  37.  10. 

*  In  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Targ.  duhbaqu  is  to  be  read,  as  in  38.  38. 


190  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

17  Thy  life.  As  Ps.  89.  48,  heled,  without  sufiLx,  denotes  "  one's  span 
of  life."  Darkness :  vocalize,  in  accordance  with.  3  Mss.,  Syr.  and 
Targ.  nsu'J^  (Beer-Kittel  and  others). 

20  Their  hope  will  be  snuffed  out  like  the  last  breath  of  life  :  niappah 
is  a  case  of  brachylog>',  being  construed  both  as  predicate  and  as  accu- 
sative of  comparison.  This  meaning  for  the  half  verse  is  far  more 
satisfactory  than  the  customary  translation,  "  Their  hope  shall  be  the 
giving  up  of  the  ghost,"  which  is  explained  as  meaning  *  death  is  what 
they  have  to  look  for.' 

XII-XIV 

Synopsis.  —  Referring  especially  to  Zophar's  remarks  about 
the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  God,  Job  tells  the  friends  ironically 
that  what  they  state  with  such  finality  is  but  a  shallow  truism, 
a  mere  begging  of  the  question.  \Miat  he  w^ants  to  know  is 
why  he,  the  earnest  righteous  man,  should  be  visited  with  un- 
deserved suffering,  why  he  should  be  made  the  laughing-stock 
of  his  friends,  an  object  of  scorn  in  the  community.  He  quotes 
what  is  presumably  a  well-known  adage  as  expressive  of  the 
attitude  of  his  fello^Tuen  toward  him  in  his  adversity : 

"Contempt  should  be  dealt  out  to  him  who  suffereth  mis- 
fortune, 
A  kick  be  given  them  that  have  lost  their  footing." 

In  the  following  verses,  we  find  him  very  naturally  again 
grappling  wdth  the  thought  that  occupied  him  in  his  previous 
discourse,  the  thought  that  justice  does  not  enter  into  God's 
dealings  with  man.  God  lets  the  wicked  prosper,  and  makes 
brute  force  to  rule  in  the  world  —  in  society  and  in  nature. 
Even  the  dumb  animals  will  bear  him  out  in  this.  They,  too, 
can  tell  a  story  of  the  predatory  system  that  prevails  among 
them.     This  is  the  meaning,  not  only  of  12.  7-8,  but  also  of  v.  9. 

"  Who  among  all  those  doth  not  know 
That  the  hand  of  God  worketh  this?"  ^ 

1  In  V.  9  b,  which  occurs  verbatim  Is.  41.  20,  Job  quotes  a  proverbial 
phrase  (see  p.  17). 


NOTES  191 

That  is  to  say,  God  lets  tyranny  and  brute  force  hold  sway  in 
the  world.  The  widely  prevailing  interpretation  of  the  latter 
verse,  who  among  the  animals  does  not  know  that  God  is 
the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe,  cannot  be  entertained. 
The  thought  is  not  of  the  creation  and  dominion  of  the  uni- 
verse, but  of  the  unjust  system  which  is  permitted  by  God  to 
prevail  in  it.  It  is  far-fetched  to  make  this  refer  to  the  visible 
world.  The  emphasis  is  altogether  on  the  fact  —  irreconcilable 
to  the  author  —  that  the  wicked  enjoy  prosperity,  while  the 
innocent  are  allowed  to  suffer. 

Verse  11,  "Does  not  the  ear  discern  words  and  the  palate 
taste  food?"  contains  another  argument  along  the  same  line 
as  vv.  7-9.  Job  means  to  say  one  cannot  be  endowed  with 
senses,  and  not  know  that  the  predatory  system  holds  sway 
in  the  universe. 

Before  drawing  from  all  this  the  obvious  inference  that 
God's  ways  are  mysterious  and  perplexing,  not  plain  and  in- 
telligent, as  the  belief  in  retributive  justice  naively  assumes, 
Job  returns  for  a  moment  to  his  starting-point.  The  friends 
justify  their  persistent  claim  to  superior  knowledge  with  the 
time-honored  notion  that  wisdom  is  found  among  the  aged  (v. 
12  is  evidently  another  adage),  but  Job  rejects  this  view,  main- 
taining that  absolute  wisdom  and  authority  is  found  with  God 
alone.  To  show  the  omnipotence  of  God,  which  is  beyond  all 
human  understanding,  he  draws  a  many-sided  picture  of  His 
destructive  and  despotic  dealings  with  men,  the  central  idea 
being  that  men  and  nations  prosper  or  decay  as  God  chooses 
to  ordain. 

This  ruthless  omnipotence  by  which  man  is  overawed  is, 
however,  only  one  side  of  God.  There  is  another  side  to  His 
Being  —  a  side  of  which  man  can  have  cognizance,  not  through 
the  contemplation  of  nature  or  history,  but  through  his  own 
moral  consciousness.  It  is  to  the  God  thus  revealed  to  him 
through  his  inner,  spiritual  faculties  that  Job  now  turns,  as  to 


192  THE   BOOK  OF  JOB 

a  refuge,  from  the  mysterious,  transcendent  God  everywhere  so 
painfully  manifest  to  the  outer  senses.  Before  this  God  he 
will  plead  his  case.  The  God-belief  of  the  friends,  of  his  age, 
he  characterizes  as  mere  conventional  piety  contradicting  both 
reason  and  experience.  He  scores  the  friends  for  their  shallow- 
ness and  hypocrisy  in  approving  injustice,  because  it  is  God's 
injustice.  Do  they  think  to  deceive  Him  as  they  do  men? 
Should  they  not  beware  of  His  judgment?  They  have  cause 
to  fear  His  wrath  when  He  shall  appear.  But  he.  Job,  can  af- 
ford to  speak  out  unafraid  —  whatever  the  consequences.  He 
is  innocent,  he  will  justify  his  conduct  to  His  face.  Here  fol- 
lows the  exquisite,  heart-searching  verse : 

"This  indeed  hath  been  my  support, 
For  the  godless  cannot  approach  Him." 

The  knowledge  that  his  conscience  is  clear  is  Job's  strength. 
In  spite  of  his  terrible  visitation,  he  is  nearer  to  God  than  the 
friends.  He  dares  to  speak.  Were  he  guilty  he  would  have  to 
accept  his  fate  in  silence. 

Then  humbly,  intimately,  he  turns  to  God  and  pleads  with 
him  for  mercy : 

"  Remove  Thy  hand  from  me. 
Let  not  Thy  terror  affright  me," 

or  at  least  for  enlightenment  as  to  the  transgressions  for  which 
he  is  paying  the  penalty  : 

"  Call  me,  and  I  will  answer. 
Or  let  me  speak,  and  answer  Thou  me ! 
How  many  are  my  sins  and  my  iniquities  ? 
Let  me  know  my  transgression  and  my  sin." 

Only  let  Him  not  show  such  estrangement,  such  extreme  sever- 
ity to  one  so  poor  and  helpless : 


NOTES  193 

"Why  hidest  Thou  Thy  face, 
Why  holdest  Thou  me  for  Thine  enemy  ? 
Wilt  Thou  scare  a  leaf  driven  by  the  wind  ? 
Or  wilt  Thou  pursue  dry  straw?" 

He  reminds  God  how  frail  is  man,  how  brief  his  existence,  how 
far  from  perfect.  Why  be  so  exacting  with  a  being  that  is  so 
utterly  transitory  and  dependent  ? 

Job's  longing  for  mercy,  for  some  act  or  sign  of  assurance  from 
God,  is  rendered  more  poignant  by  the  reflection  that  there  is 
no  hope  for  man  beyond  the  grave.  With  infinite  pathos  he 
describes  how  a  tree  that  has  decayed  may  sprout  anew,  but 
how  man  when  he  dies  must  perish  forever,  must  vanish  com- 
pletely like  the  stone  that  is  worn  away  by  water  or  like  the  soil 
that  is  carried  off  by  torrents.  Does  not  death  mean  extinc- 
tion ?  Otherwise  how  gladly  should  he  await  the  change  death 
might  bring  in  his  lot : 

"  As  the  water  disappeareth  from  the  sea. 

And  the  river  drieth  up  and  vanisheth. 

So  when  a  man  dieth,  he  doth  not  rise  again. 

Even  should  the  heavens  be  no  more. 

He  will  not  awake,  nor  stir  from  his  sleep." 

The  impassioned  wish,  14.  13,  15-17  —  impassioned,  for  all 
he  knows  it  to  be  futile  —  is  not  a  part  of  Job's  reflections  on 
the  question  of  a  life  after  death,  but  rather  is  suggested  by 
them.  If  God  might  but  hide  him  in  the  netherworld  until 
such  time  as  He  should  remember  him  in  kindness,  and  take 
account  of  all  his  doings,  not  merely  of  his  sins !  This  outburst 
reveals  the  conflicting  emotions  to  which  Job  is  a  prey.  He 
realizes  that  there  is  no  hope  for  him  on  this  side  of  the  grave  or 
beyond,  yet  with  a  tragic  intensity  he  craves  for  vindication. 

The  intensity  of  Job's  feelings  is  to  be  explained  in  a  measure 
by  the  fact,  frequently  overlooked,  that  he  was  stricken,  not 


194  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

in  his  declining  years,  but  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  manhood. 
Note  Eliphaz'  reminder  in  the  following  chapter,  "  I  am  more  ad- 
vanced in  years  than  thy  father"  ;  cf.  also  29.  4,  and  36.  14. 

XII.  2  Ye  are  the  people :  'am  is  a  case  of  emphatic  indetermi- 
nation;  it  was  understood  by  both  Gk.  Cod.  A,  Vet.  Lat.  and  Vulg., 
and  excellently  rendered  by  them  with  av^pwTrot  fxovot  and  soli 
homines  respectively. 

3,  XIII.  2.  The  original  place  of  13.  2  a  was  after  12.  3a;  it  was 
omitted,  and  together  with  3  6  (  =  13.  2  6)  as  a  cue,  was  inserted  in  the 
margin,  whence  it  was  wrongly  put  after  13.  1. 

XII.  4  hath  he  become.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Syr., 
H'H'  (Beer-K.) ;  that  this  was  the  original  reading  follows  beyond 
doubt  from  the  structure  of  the  composite  relative  clause.  Whose 
prayer,  when  he  called  iinto  Him,  God  would  answer,  the  antecedent 
of  which  is  the  subject  he  of  hath  become. 

5  to  him  who  sufifereth  misfortune.  The  occasional  use  of  an  ab- 
stract with  the  force  of  a  concrete  noun  is  common  to  all  languages. 
a  kick :  nakon  is  a  substantive  derived  from  nakd  and  formed  with  the 
ending  on,  like  hason. 

6  The  tent  of  robbers.  Similar  constructions  with  le,  instead  of  with 
the  genitive,  are  Gen.  50.  23,  I  Sam.  9.  3,  Ps.  128.  6. 

IX.  24.  The  reasons  for  putting  the  verse  in  here  have  been  stated 
in  9.  24.  He  blindfoldeth  her  rulers  (cf.  Is.  29.  10,  Gen.  20.  16) ;  the 
primarv  meaning  of  shofet  is  "  ruler,"  '  governor."  If  not  He,  who 
then  doth  it?  Transpose  13K  'r:  Nin  5<b  Di<  (Beer-K.).  The  thought 
expressed  in  the  second  part  of  the  verse  is  similar  to  that  stated  in 
12.  16,  "  He  that  falleth  into  error,  and  he  that  leadeth  into  error,  are 
both  His  work  " ;  cf.  what  has  been  remarked  in  regard  to  this  view, 
p.  34. 

XII  7  they  can  show  thee  ;  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  fern.  sing,  of 
the  verb,  cf.  Ges.-Kautzsch,  Hebr.  Gram.,  §  145,  4.  Or  the  reptiles 
of  the  earth:   read  'P«  'Smi  (Beer-K.). 

11  words.     The  Aramaic  plural  ending  is  the  mistake  of  a  copyist. 

15  the  earth  drieth  up.  Read  ^T}',  the  ^  is  due  to  dittography 
of  the  ^  of  the  following  word ;  the  object  'ares  of  the  second  clause  is 
to  be  construed  also  as  subject  with  wajibash  (in  regard  to  the  masc. 
of  the  verb  cf.  Ges.-Kautzsch,  §  145,  7).  We  have  here  the  reverse 
case  of  that  stated  9.  11 ;  the  object  of  the  one  clause  is  construed  as 
subject  with  the  other  (cf.  Prov.  3.  21,  Is.  46.  13,  Jer.  17.  27) ;   both 


NOTES  195 

cases  are  properly  to  be  classed  as  brachylogy.  A  proof  of  this  read- 
ing may  still  be  seen  in  Gk.,  irjpavd  tyjv  yrjv ;  this  reading  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  Gk.,  failing  to  recognize  the  proper  construc- 
tion, read  joblsh,  and  construed  'ares  as  object  with  both  clauses. 

18  the  bonds.  Vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Targ.  and  Vulg.,  "^piOj 
as  generally  emended,  a  rope.  Either  'ezor  must  be  used  here  of  the 
rope  tied  around  prisoners  of  war  as  a  sign  of  degradation,  or  the  text 
read  originally  'esur. 

21  of  the  mighty.  This  meaning  of  'afiq  may  be  considered  as  ety- 
mologically  established. 

22  things  dark  as  the  shadow  of  death :  salmaweth  is  accusative  of 
comparison,  and  'amuqoth  is  to  be  construed  as  object  also  with  jdse\ 

23  And  layeth  them  low.  The  vocalization  wajjanhem  cannot  be  the 
original  reading.  This  follows  not  only  from  the  parallelism,  destroy- 
eth  them,  but  also  from  the  fact  that  nahd  and  hinhd  are  used  only  in 
the  sense  to  guide,  and  cannot  mean  "  lead  away  "  (captive).  The 
text  originally  read  D.nri  which  is  ellipsis  for  hinnih  Wares;  the  full 
phrase  occurs  Is.  28.  2,  "  he  shall  lay  her  low  with  violence." 

24,  25  in  trackless  desert-land :  Id'  darek  is  a  compound,  like  lo, 
Jiokmd,  "  ignorance,"  Zo'  hasld,  "  loveless,"  lo'  ken,  "  wrong,"  lo'  mish- 
pat,  "  injustice,"  lo'  zeru'a,  "  uncultivated  "  ;  it  forms  an  apposition  to 
tohu.    In  V.  25  hosheh  and  lo'  'or  are  adverbial  accusatives. 

XIII.  2  See  12.3.* 

XXI.  4  has  properly  no  place  in  ch.  21,  since  in  that  chapter  Job  does 
not  speak  of  his  personal  suffering,  hut  of  the  fact  that  the  wicked 
prosper  to  the  very  end ;  the  verse  makes  a  break  in  the  thought,  21.  5 
being  the  continuation  of  21.  3.  It  fits  in  well  here ;  the  second  part 
is  a  reply  to  the  admonition  given  Job  by  the  friends  that  he  accept  his 
affliction  in  a  submissive  spirit.  Should  I  pour  out  my  grief  to  men? 
Whether  he'anoki  slhi  is  eUiptical  expression,  or  whether  ha'eshpok  is 
to  be  read  for  he'anoki  (cf.  Ps.  102.  1,  142.  3),  cannot  be  decided. 

XIII.  4  Ye  are  but  forgers  of  lies,  'ulam  is  used  with  the  same  force 
as  in  12.  7. 

9  Will  it  be  well  with  you?  That  tob  has  future  tense  follows  from 
the  protasis.  When  He  searcheth  you  out. 

11  when  He  appeareth.  This  meaning  of  se'eth,  both  here  and  31.  23, 
can  the  less  be  questioned,  since  similarly.  Is.  30.  27,  mas'eth  denotes 
Yahweh's  appearance,  and  since  furthermore  in  Job  41.  17  s'eth  is  used 
of  the  crocodile's  appearance  out  of  the  water ;  note  also  Judg.  20.  38, 
40,  where  mas'e^/i  means  ascend  (of  smoke),  with  fear  of  Him.  The 
pronominal  suffix  of  pahad  has  the  force  of  an  objective  genitive. 


196  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

14  I  hold  my  life  in  my  teeth.  HD  Sj.',  which  was  not  read  by  Gk.,  is 
to  be  omitted,  being  dittography  of  'alaj  md,  with  which  the  preceding 
verse  ends.  This  follows  from  the  meaning  of  both  v.  14  a  and  14  b. 
As  to  the  latter  of  these  two  proverbial  expressions,  its  recurrence 
Judg.  12.  3, 1  Sam.  19.  5,  28.  21  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  its  meaning.  It 
is  the  exact  equivalent  of  our  English  expression,  "  to  take  one's  life 
in  one's  hand."  As  to  the  former,  about  which  exegetes  have  been  at 
sea,  we  have  an  Arabic  parallel  in  Hudheil  106,  16,  (Sallmun  nagd) 
wan-nafsu  minhu  bi-shidkihi,  "  (Salim  escaped)  ivith  his  life  between 
his  jaws,''  i.e.  his  life  or  ghost  was  about  to  pass  out  from  his  mouth. 
The  expression  is  based  on  the  primitive  notion  that  when  a  m.an  dies 
his  soul  passes  out  of  his  body  through  his  mouth  or  nostrils.  Simi- 
larly, the  Job  expression,  I  hold  my  life  between  my  teeth,  means  I  am 
at  the  point  of  death.  The  context  bears  this  out.  Job  says  he  need 
not  hesitate  to  risk  his  life,  since  he  may  pass  away  any  moment. 
As  here,  basar  is  used  as  the  equivalent  of  nejesh  Ps.  63.  2,  Eccl.  5.  5. 

15  If  He  killeth  me  —  well  and  good;  I  have  nothing  to  hope  for. 
The  traditional  translation  of  the  half  verse  is,  "  Though  He  slay  me, 
yet  will  I  wait  for  Him."  Like  the  Kere,  it  takes  lo'  as  another  spelling 
of  l6  (with  wavS).  Aquilla  was  the  first  to  render  the  half  verse  this 
way,  and  the  oldest  reference  to  this  interpretation  is  found  Mishna 
Sola  5.  5.  Although  such  a  declaration  of  absolute  trust  in  God  would 
be  in  keeping  vriih.  Job's  character,  it  is,  as  many  scholars  have  pointed 
out,  excluded  in  the  present  case  by  the  context.  The  statement  with 
which  he  continues,  Only  my  conduct  I  desire  to  justify  to  His  face, 
shows  conclusively  that  the  consonantal  text  is  correct,  and  that  W 
is  the  negative.  It  may  be  added  that  the  declaration  which  the  tradi- 
tional translation  attributes  to  v.  15  a  would  be  premature  here ;  Job 
makes  this  declaration,  in  different  language,  in  19.  25-27.  However, 
the  varioiLs  translations  given  of  the  half  verse  are  not  accurate ;  its 
grammatical  construction  has  not  been  recognized :  Id'  'djahel  is  not  an 
apodosis  of  hen  jiqtelem,  nor  is  hen  affirmative,  but  hen  jiqteleni  is  an 
elliptical  conditional  sentence,  the  apodosis  of  wliich  is  omitted,  and  lo' 
djahel  is  coordinate  with  it.  Similar  elliptical  conditional  sentences 
are  Exod.  32.  32,  "  Now,  if  Thou  forgivest  their  sin,  well  and  good," 
i.e.  I  am  satisfied ;  I  Ki.  1.  27,  "  If  this  hath  happened  with  the  consent 
of  my  lord,  the  king,  and  thou  hast  not  informed  thy  servant  as  to  who 
will  sit  on  the  throne  of  my  lord,  the  king,  after  him,  well  and  good," 
in  familiar  parlance,  '  all  right,  I  have  nothing  to  say.'  Such  ellip- 
tical conditional  sentences,  the  apodosis  of  which  is  entirely  suppressed 
for  the  rhetorical  effect,  are  not  limited  to  Hebrew  and  Semitic  Ian- 


NOTES  197 

guages,  but  are  common  also  to  Greek :  cf.  II.  I.  135  et  /xev  Swo-ovort 
ye/oas  "  if  they  shall  give  me  a  prize,  it  will  be  well."  ^ 

19  Verily  then  I  should  have  to  die  in  silence.  Ki  is  emphatic  parti- 
cle, and  'atta  has  consecutive  force  just  as  in  3.  13  and  7.  21 ;  'ahdrish 
is  a  circumstantial  clause. 

20,  21  But  two  things  Thou  must  not  do  unto  me.  What  is  meant 
by  two  things  is  stated  in  v.  21 :  Remove  Thy  hand  from  me,  let  not 
Thy  terror  affright  me !  Though  actually  meaning  one  and  the  same 
thing,  the  writer  speaks  of  it  as  of  two.  Other  examples  of  this  stylistic 
peculiarity  are  Is.  51.  19,  Jer.  2.  13. 

25  a  leaf  driven  by  the  wind,    nidddf  is  ellipsis  for  nidddf  lifne  ruh. 

27  Thou  hast  put  my  feet  in  the  stocks  .  .  .  and  dost  draw  Thy 
line  close  around  my  feet.  Job  pursues  a  line  of  reasoning  similar  to 
that  in  3.  23  and  19.  8  f . ;  cf .  these  passages.  By  sharshe,  rendered  by 
Vulg.  with  vestigia,  and  similarly  by  Targ.,  the  outer  edge  of  the  foot 
is  in  all  probability  meant. 

28  Verse  28  has  no  thought  relation  with  vv.  20-27  but  with  14.1-2. 
It  cannot  possibly,  however,  be  an  original  part  of  this  passage.  The 
similes  are  incompatible  in  the  same  piece  of  description.  Verse  28 
would  destroy  the  effectiveness  of  the  highly  poetic  hgure  in  v.  2, 
"  Like  a  flower  he  unfoldeth,  and  fadeth  away ;  Like  a  shadow  he 
flitteth  past  and  hath  no  substance."  It  must  be  the  marginal  com- 
ment of  a  reader. 

XIV.  3  Yet  over  such  a  one.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  Vulg. 
and  Sjnr.,  li^^^ — an  emendation  generally  accepted. 

4  Oh,  if  there  might  be  found  but  one  pure  man  among  the  impure. 
The  correctness  of  this  translation  cannot  be  questioned :  the  partitive 
min  is  used  again  with  the  singular  of  a  substantive,  which  is  not  a  col- 
lective, 11.  6;  further  the  singular  tame',  referring  to  many,  occurs 
again  Lam.  4.  15.  But  not  only  is  this  meaning  above  suspicion,  it  is 
the  only  one  possible.  A  careful  examination  of  the  examples  with  ml 
jitten  both  in  Job  ^  and  in  the  other  Biblical  books  ^  will  convince 
any  one  that  ml  jitten  tahor  mittame'  cannot  mean  either  "  Who  can  bring 
a  clean  thmg  out  of  an  unclean?  "  or  "  Oh  that  a  clean  thing  would 
come  out  of  an  unclean ! "  The  latter  would  have  been  expressed 
ml  jitten  jese'  or  wejese'  tahor  etc.,  and  the  former,  ml  josV  etc.  (without 

^See  Liddell-Scott,  Greek  English  Lexicon,  s.  v.  d,  where  this  and 
other  examples  are  quoted. 

2  They  are  6.  8,  11.  5,  13.  5,  14.  13,  19.  23,  23.  3,  29.  2,  31.  31,  35. 

3  These  examples  are  Exod.  16.  3,  Nu.  11.  29,  Deut.  5.  26,  28.  67,  Judg. 
9.  29,  II  Sam.  19.  1,  Is.  27.  4,  Jer.  8.  23,  9.  1,  Ps.  14.  7,  55.  7. 


198  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

jitten).  The  thought  emphasized  by  Job  is  expressed  in  different  lan- 
guage Prov.  20.  9,  "  W^io  can  say  I  have  kept  my  heart  clean,  I  am  pure 
from  sin?  " 

5  determined  by  Thee  :  hdruslm  is  predicate  of  both  jdmaw  and  mis- 
par  hodashaw.  the  bounds  :  the  pronominal  sufi&x  of  hoq  has  the  force 
of  an  objective  genitive. 

7-9  ki  is  introductory  kl,  used  in  passing  over  to  a  new  thought,  cut 
down.  The  reference  is  to  the  custom  in  Palestine  of  cutting  off  the 
tops  or  even  the  trunks  of  trees  that  have  become  old  and  decayed  in 
order  to  produce  a  new  growth. 

9  as  if  newly  planted.  As  Is.  17.  11,  nata'  is  used  here  not  as  a  con- 
crete substantive,  but  as  verbal  noun ;  in  the  present  case  the  infin- 
itive has  the  passive  sense. 

10  no  vital  spark  is  left.  This  seems  to  me  the  meaning  of  halash, 
used  here  intransitively ;  it  is  made  probable  by  the  context  and  by 
the  fact  that  the  meaning  of  the  verb,  used  transitively,  is  "  to  van- 
quish." Where  is  there  a  trace  of  him  ?  Gk.,  ovkctl  iartv,  paraphrases 
the  Hebrew;  to  emend  on  the  strength  of  this  paraptirase  is  un- 
warranted, especially  since  the  original  is  far  more  expressive,  cf .  20.  7. 

Verses  11-12  describe  man's  complete  extinction  in  death  still  more 
graphically.  The  majority  of  present-daj^  scholars  are  agreed  on  Job's 
emphatic  denial  of  a  life  after  death  in  this  chapter.  To  quote  for 
example  Strahan  on  \^.  10-12  —  "  Here  the  denial  of  a  second  life  is 
absolute.  Man  lies  do\\^i  not  to  rise  again ;  he  falls  asleep  not  to 
wake  till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  i.e.  never.  Job  shares  the  ordinary 
Hebrew  belief  that  this  life  is  aU,  and  his  ignorance  of  immortality  is 
one  of  the  presuppositions  of  the  drama.  Faith  in  a  future  life  would 
completely  alter  the  data  of  the  problem  of  suffering." 

12  Even  should  the  heavens  be  no  more,  'ad  is  here  not  conjunction, 
but  is  another  case  of  its  adverbial  use ;  similarly  the  corresponding 
Arabic  hattd,  when  used  as  an  adverb,  may  mean  "  even."  ^  The  clause 
is  hypothetical  altogether,  and  not  indicative  of  any  eschatological 
notion,  such  as  we  meet  with  in  later  literature.  Wishing  to  be  most 
emphatic,  Job  says  that  he  can  sooner  conceive  of  the  disappearance  of 
the  heavens  (which  in  both  the  older  and  contemporary  literature  are 
spoken  of  as  established  forever  ^)  than  of  the  resurrection  of  man. 
He  will  not  awake  nor  stir  etc.     The  plural  of  the  verbs  in  the  Hebrew 

^  See  Reckendorf,  Syntaktische  Verhdltnisse  des  Arabischen,  p.  671  f. 

2  Cf.  Jer.  31.  35-37,  Ps.  72.  5,  7,  17,  89.  30,  37.  Is.  51.  6,  and  Ps.  102.  27 
are  two  other  cases  where  the  disappearance  of  the  heavens  is  spoken 
of  in  a  purely  hypothetical  way. 


NOTES  199 

is  the  original  reading  and  should  not  be  emended ;  the  writer  purposely 
changed  from  the  singular  to  the  plural  for  the  sake  of  generalization. 
I  retain  the  singular  in  the  interest  of  English  construction. 

14,  13.  Verse  13  must  originally  have  followed  v.  14,  since  v.  15 
is  its  direct  continuation.  Referring  to  the  hope  in  which  some  of  his 
contemporaries  saw  the  solution  of  life's  riddle.  Job  asks,  When  man 
dieth,  doth  he  come  to  life  again  ?  and  answers  that  in  such  a  case  he 
would  patiently  endure  his  present  life  in  the  hope  of  the  change  await- 
ing him  in  the  after-life,  the  change  in  my  lot.  The  suffix  of /laZifa  has 
the  force  of  an  objective  genitive. 

15  If  Thou  didst  call  me.  Verse  15  is  not  declarative,  but  a  com- 
pound conditional  sentence ;  v.  15  a  is  a  case  of  brachylogy,  ^anokl 
supplying  the  object  of  tiqrd\ 

16,  17  For  then  wouldst  Thou  take  full  account  of  my  steps,  not 
merely  watch  for  my  sin ;  my  transgression  would  be  sealed  up 
as  in  a  bag.  Thou  wouldst  whitewash  my  sin.  As  has  been  pointed 
out  by  several  scholars,  this  is  the  only  acceptable  translation  of  vv.  16- 
17.  The  traditional  translation  is  grammatically  untenable ;  con- 
trary to  all  rule,  it  takes  v.  16  6  as  a  rhetorical  question,  and  renders 
V.  17  b,  "  And  thou  fastenest  up  my  iniquity."  However,  since  tafal 
in  Hebrew  and  the  cognate  languages  alike  means  only  "  to  daub," 
"  smear  over,"  or  "  plaster,"  tafal  'al  'awon,  it  is  obvious,  can  have 
no  other  meaning  than  "  to  whitewash,"  or  "  plaster  over  one's  sin  " 
(with  this  accord  both  13.  4  tojele  sheqer,  "  forgers  of  lies,"  and  Ps.  119. 
69  tafelu  'alai  sheqer,  "they  spread  lies  about  me").  Accordingly 
hathum  of  v.  17a  must  mean  sealed  up,  not  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  it 
secure,  but  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  it  concealed,  so  as  to  be  no 
longer  manifest  (cf.  the  similar  meaning  of  hatham  9.  7,  and  Cant.  4.  12 
ma'jan  hathum,  "  a  closed  well  ").  And  since  v.  16  h  can  only  mean 
Thou  wouldst  not  merely  watch  for  my  sin,  'atta  of  16  a  cannot  mean 
"  now,"  but,  as  in  3.  13,  7.  21,  it  must  have  consecutive  force,  while 
sS'adaj  tispor  must  mean  wouldst  take  full  account  of  rny  steps. 
Additional  proof  of  this  meaning  of  se'adaj  tispor  is  furnished  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  exactly  in  this  sense  that  the  phrase  is  used  in  31.  4,  37. 

18  But  as  the  mountain  coUapseth.  Read,  on  the  basis  of  Gk.  and 
Syr.,  ^713^  ^7133 ;  this  widely  accepted  emendation  is  borne  out  also  by 
the  parallelism. 

19  the  torrent.  Since  the  fem.  suffix  of  seflhceha  has  no  antecedent, 
majim  being  masculine,  it  is  clear  that  the  text  must  have  originally 
read  nn^SD,  which  is  to  be  explained  as  a  metathesis-form ;  the  word 
is  fem.  also  in  Arabic,  sahifat. 


200  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

20  Thou  changest  his  features,  i.e.,  in  the  rigidness  of  death ;  and 
castest  him  off,  cf .  the  remarks  on  8.  4.  He  passeth  away :  jahalok 
is  euphemism  for  jamuth ;  cf .  the  similar  Greek  euphemism  oIx^tch, 
"  he  is  gone  hence,"  "  is  dead." 

21,22.  The  customary  translation  of  v.  22,  "But  his  flesh  upon 
him  hath  pain,  and  his  soul  wdthin  him  mourneth,"  makes  strange  sense ; 
"  his  soul  Tsdthin  him,"  moreover,  is  grammatically  impossible.  Nor 
is  the  translation,  "  Only  for  himself  his  flesh  has  pam,  and  for  himself 
his  soul  mourneth,"  any  improvement  on  the  customary  one.  The 
same  applies  to  the  emendations  proposed.  No  emendation  is  neces- 
sary :  hasar  means  here  kin,  and  tiejesh,  serfs  (cf .  German  "  Gesinde  ") : 
hasar  is  used  \\dth  the  same  meaning  Is.  58.  7,  "  from  thy  kin  thou  shalt 
not  withhold  thy  help,"  and  is,  in  fact,  so  rendered  by  Gk.,  airo  tojv 
oIkuwv  "  from  thy  kinsmen  "  (to  which  rov  o-Tre/j/xard?  aov  is  super- 
fluously added),  also  Gen.  37.  27  "he  is  our  brother  and  kins- 
man " ;  and  nefesh  occurs  agam  with  the  meaning  "  servants  "  or 
"  slaves  "  Gen.  12.  5,  36.  6  (in  the  plural),  and  Ezek.  27. 13.  Taken 
in  this  sense,  verse  22  rounds  out  the  thought  expressed  in  v.  21.  In 
these  two  verses,  as  in  21.  21  later,  the  writer  of  Job  expresses  a  ^dew 
far  in  advance  of  his  age.  The  prevailing  belief  of  the  time  was  that 
the  shades  in  Sheol  not  only  retain  memory  of  their  o\\ti  life  on  earth, 
but  have  knowledge  of  the  fortmies  of  their  kin  after  their  death ;  and 
they  were  thought  to  be  able  to  exert  influence  on  the  affairs  of  the 
li\4ng  (see  the  remarks  on  5.  1).  In  contrast  to  this,  the  ^Titer  of  Job 
denies  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  shadowy  continuance  of  one's 
existence  after  death ;  for  him  when  a  man  dies,  he  ceases  to  be.  He 
has  no  longer  any  knowledge  of  the  life  and  happenings  on  earth,  and 
he  is  altogether  miconcemed  about  those  he  leaves  behind ;  whether 
they  are  prosperous  or  poor  does  not  affect  him.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  a  similar  advanced  \iew  is  found  in  Euripides  Alcestis  and 
Troades.  In  the  former  it  is  said  that  the  dead  no  longer  have  sensa- 
tions of  either  pain  or  pleasure ;  they  do  not  care  vrhether  they  are 
honored  or  dishonored ;  they  are  absolutely  no  more  (w.  322,  381, 
725f.,  935ff.  ed.  Long  &  MacLeane) ;  and  in  the  latter,  that  the  dead 
have  no  interest  in  aU  the  costly  funeral  honors,  that  only  the  vanity  of 
those  left  behind  is  served  by  this  custom  (w.  1247ff.  ed.  Long  & 
MacLeane). 

XV 

Synopsis.  —  Eliphaz  no  longer  makes  any  attempt  to  disguise 
his  real  feelings  toward  Job.    He  tells  him  that  his  utterances 


NOTES  201 

are  blasphemous— by  them  he  "undermines  the  fear  of  God  "  — 
that  they  spring  from  a  guilty  conscience,  and  effectually  convict 
him  as  a  sinner.     Relying  complacently  on  his  advanced  years 
and  superior  wisdom,  he  proceeds  to  rail  at  Job.    For  like  Bildad 
and  Zophar  before  him,  he  does  not  undertake  to  refute  Job's 
arguments,  or  even  to  bring  out  any  new  side  of  his  own  belief ; 
all  he  does  is  to  reiterate  his  former  views  with  greater  fanat- 
icism.   This  is  a  point  that  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized. 
WJbil£__the  discourses  of  Job  are  marked  by  a  steady  progress 
in  thought  —  b^ack  of  them  is  a  live  mind  earnestly  seeking  a 
solution^^^  the  Speeches  of    the  friends  all  proceed  from  the 
same  fixed  viewpoint,  and  show  no  growth  or  development  in 
the  thought. 
There  is  a  tendency  to  overlook  this  blind  inflexibility  of  the 
/ /;|riends,  and  to  regard  their  character  in  general  in  a  more 
//^favorable  light  than  the  author  intended.     It  has  become  al- 
[//   most  a  rule  with  interpreters  of  Job  to  apologize  for  the  friends, 
and  to  paint  them  in  a  quite  friendly  light,  whereas  the  writer 
of  Job  was  intent  on  portraying  them  as  fanatics  pure  and 
simple.    Very  skilfully  and  with  fine  psychological  insight  he 
shows  how,  with  each  successive  speech,  they  become  more 
intolerant  and  blindly  fanatic,  until  at  last  their  judgment  has 
\,    become  so  clouded  that  we  find  them  even  distorting  the  facts, 
^  and  making  the  most  unfounded  charges  against  Job.^    It  is 
especially  worthy  of  note  that,  after  the  first  round  of  speeches, 
the  friends  (excepting  Eliphaz  in  22.  21-28)  no  longer  speak  of 
hope  to  Job.    Stirred  to  resentment  by  his  unbowed  pride, 
and  goaded  to  intolerance  by  his  (to  them)  defiant  claims  to 
righteousness,  they  concentrate,  all  three,  on  depicting  ever 
more  luridly  the  fate  that  stands  in  wait  for  the  wicked.  Job's 
misfortunes  evidently  serving  in  their  minds  for  a  model. 

XV.  3  Doth  he  put  forward  arguments  that  have  no  weight,  reasons 

etc.    hdkeh  is  a  case  of  emphatic  infinitive ;   it  is  to  be  construed  with 
^  Cf .  the  last  speech  of  EHphaz  and  of  Bildad. 


202  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

both  bedabar  and  millim.  Mention  must  be  made  of  the  reading  of  v.  3 
in  Vulg.,  Arguis  verbis  eum  qui  non  est  equalis  tibi,  et  loqueris  quod  tibi 
non  expedit.  The  second  part  is  a  variant  of  v.  3  Heb. ;  as  to  the  first, 
to  which  supplementary  parts  are  found  both  in  Vulg.  and  Syr.  of  22.  2 
(see  p.  259),  we  have  preserved  in  it  a  direct  reply  of  Eliphaz  to  Job's 
declaration  in  13.  3. 

4  the  fear  of  God.  jir'a  is  ellipsis  for  jir^ath  'elohlm.  Thou  utterest 
threats  against  God.  V.  4  b,  as  it  reads  at  present,  does  not  admit 
of  translation.  The  customary  rendering,  "  restrainest,"  or  "  hinder- 
est  devotion  before  God,"  is  a  mere  conjecture;  gara'  cannot  mean 
"  hinder,"  "  restrain,"  nor  slha,  "  devotion."  tigra'  cannot  be  the 
original  reading,  but  must  be  mistake  for  "^I'J^  due  to  transposition 
of  y  and  *^ ;  tig'ar  siha  means  thou  makest  threatening  utterances,  or 
utterest  threats.  This  charge  is  appropriate,  when  one  considers 
Eliphaz'  viewpoint. 

5  thy  guilty  conscience.  Like  pesha\  Ps.  36.  2,  'awdn  denotes  here 
consciousness  of  sin ;  the  exact  meaning  oije'allef  here  is  prompteth. 

7,  8  Wast  thou  created  with  the  hills  ?  lif 7ie  does  not  mean  here  "  be- 
fore," but  as  in  Ps.  72.  5,  17,  it  is  used  with  the  meaning  as  long  as. 
Hast  thou  listened  to  wisdom  and  appropriated  it  in  the  council  of 
God?  Both  the  object,  hokma,  and  the  adverbial  phrase,  besod,  are 
to  be  construed  with  both  verbs ;  it  is  the  preposition  'el,  in  conjunction 
with  the  reflexive  pronoun  ka  that  gives  tigra'  the  meaning  hast  thou 
appropriated,  or  made  it  thy  own.  By  the  ironic  question  in  v.  7  Eliphaz 
means  to  ask  Job  if  the  wisdom  of  the  ages  is  embodied  in  him.  Work- 
ing up  to  a  climax,  he  continues,  in  v.  8,  or  whether  his  ^asdom  has 
come  to  him  through  revelation.  The  verses  contain  no  reference 
either  to  the  Demiurgic  Wisdom,  the  Logos-idea,  or,  what  is  practically 
the  same  notion  in  another  form,  the  notion  of  the  Primeval  Man 
brought  into  being  before  the  creation  of  the  universe,  and  endowed 
with  the  creative  wisdom  of  God.  As  stated  before,  the  scholars  who 
find  in  these  verses  a  reference  to  the  Primeval  Man  have  overlooked 
the  fact  that  such  an  explanation  is  grammatically  untenable  :  rl'shon 
'adam  can  only  mean  the  first  of  men,  whereas  the  expression  for  the 
Primeval  Man,  in  the  later  Jewish  literature  dealing  with  this  notion, 
is  'adam  haqadmon,  or  more  frequently  the  Aramaic  'adam  qadina'a. 

10  I  am  an  old,  grayhaired  man,  more  advanced  in  years  etc.  In  this 
verse  we  have  another  case  of  brachylogy ;  the  pronominal  suffix  of 
hanu  of  the  first  clause  is  at  the  same  time  to  be  construed  as  nomina- 
tive, or  subject,  with  the  second  clause.  The  original  has  not  /,  but 
we,  which  is  to  be  explained  as  editorial  we. 


NOTES  203 

11  Have  the  consolations  of  God  expressed  to  thee,  and  the  word 
revealed  in  whispers,  have  they  no  weight  with  thee?  is  a  compound 
sentence:  the  prepositional  plirase  Hmmak  is  a  qualificative  which 
modifies  tanhumoth  as  well  as  dabar  la' at ;  also  the  objective  mimka  is 
to  be  construed  with  both  clauses.  The  customary  translation  of 
dabar  la' at,  "  the  word  that  dealeth  gently  with  thee,"  cannot  be 
accepted,  for  the  reason  that  Eliphaz'  unsparing  attack  on  Job  would 
make  such  an  expression  ludicrous  —  even  Eliphaz'  first  speech  was 
not  characterized  by  gentleness.  The  meaning  of  la' at  is  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  Eliphaz'  reference,  as  vv.  15ff.  show,  is  to  the  thought 
4.  17,  which  he  had  presented  as  a  revelation,  and  regarding  which  he 
had  said  in  his  previous  speech,  "  My  ear  caught  a  whisper  thereof," 
"  A  faint  whisper  did  I  perceive."  The  meaning,  revealed  in  whispers, 
is  further  supported  by  'itl,  "  soothsayer,"  "  mutterer,"  and  by  Arab 
'atta,  which  denotes  "to  creak,"  "moan,"  "murmur."  Finally  this 
meaning  of  dabar  la'at  gives  point  to  the  consolation  of  God,  and 
makes  the  parallelism  of  the  verse  perfect.  On  the  strength  of  the 
revelation  he  believes  to  have  received,  Eliphaz  considers  himself  as 
the  chosen  instrument  for  conveying  God's  message  to  Job,  and  ex- 
plaining to  him  the  meaning  of  his  suffering. 

12  Why  do  thine  eyes  flash  ?  Although  we  have  no  other  example  of 
razam,  there  is  no  ground  for  questioning  either  the  word  itself  or  its 
meaning  "  flash  "  or  "  roll,"  since  Arab,  ramaza  is  used  in  the  derived 
stems  with  the  meaning  "  to  be  in  commotion  "  or  "  agitated,"  and  the 
etymologically  corresponding  Coptic  3orw  means  in  addition  to  "wink  " 
and  "  beckon,"  mover e  and  agere. 

13  unheard  of  words,  millim,  as  is  to  be  read  for  millln,  is  another 
case  of  emphatic  indetermination. 

17  I  shall  impart  wisdom  to  thee,  hawwce  is  ellipsis  for  hawwoe 
da'ath;  the  full  phrase  occurs  32,  6,  10,  17,  Ps.  19.  3. 

19  No  strangers  lived  among  them.  By  this  statement,  the  context 
shows,  Eliphaz  implies  that  the  foreigners  living  in  their  midst  are 
responsible  for  Job's  heresy. 

20,  21  Through  all  the  years  that  are  allotted  the  tyrant  is  not  another 
adverbial  complement  of  liveth  in  trembhng,  but  is  to  be  construed  with 
V.  21  a,  his  ears  are  filled  with  dreadful  sounds.  When  he  f eeleth  most 
secure.  The  preposition  be  of  bashalom  is  be  essentiae,  baskalom  being 
an  appositive  to  the  objective  suffix  of  jebo'ennu;  it  was  understood  as 
such  by  Gk.  and  excellently  rendered  orav  Boktj  tjStj  elprjvcvetv  "when  he 
seems  to  live  peaceably." 

22,  30  a,  31  a.    Verse  30  a,  which  has  no  logical  connection  either 


204  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

with  V.  29  or  with  the  rest  of  v.  30,  is  a  variant  of  v.  22  a,  as  has  been 
pointed  out  by  a  number  of  scholars  :  i^al)  ja'dmen  of  v.  31  was  origi- 
nally another  part  of  the  variant,  which  read  lo'  ja'dmln  jasur  mini 
hoshek;  "'iD',  which  is  M-clause  of  ja'dmln,  is  to  be  substituted  as 
the  original  reading  for  shub.  The  insertion  of  the  variant  in  the 
wrong  place  and  the  separation  of  ja^dmin  from  the  variant  mark 
successive  errata  in  the  text  transmission.  The  first  mistake  was  the 
insertion  of  the  variant  from  the  margin  in  v.  30  :  when  later  the  book 
was  recopied,  ja'dmln  was  omitted  from  v.  30  and  then  put,  together 
with  W  (changed  subsequently  to  'at),  as  a  cue,  in  the  margin,  whence 
both  were  finally  inserted  at  the  beginning  of  v.  31.  He  cannot  hope 
to ;  cf .  the  similar  meaning  "  despair  of,"  with  which  lo'  ja'dmm  is 
used  24.  22  and  Deut.  28.  66.  Being  spared  ;  13^  is  abbreviated  writ- 
ing of  p-V,  as  is  to  be  read. 

23,  24  He  is  destined  to  serve  as  food  for  the  vulture.  Read,  in 
accordance  with  Gk.,  n^K  unhh  ^in  n^nj  (Duhm  and  Beer-Kittel). 
for  disaster.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  T^?'7  (Beer-K.),  and  cf. 
18.  12.  The  day  of  darkness  terrifieth  him.  Contrary  to  the  present 
verse  division  ^ow  Jioshek  is  to  be  taken  with  v.  24,  as  subject  of  inn;;^', 
as  is  to  be  read,  in  accordance  ^vith  Gk.,  instead  of  the  present  plural ; 
that  the  original  text  read  the  sing,  may  be  seen  also  from  the  consonan- 
tal text,     charge  on:  cf.  Eccl.  4.  12. 

26  arrogant  neck.    sawwaW  is  ellipsis  for  s.'athaq  :  cf .  Ps.  75.  6. 

28.  In  interpreting  the  verse,  exegetes  have  laid  undue  stress  on 
Which  were  destined  to  become  ruins,  and  accordingly  concluded 
that  the  places  referred  to  are  "  places  that  were  under  the  curse  of 
God  and  destined  by  Him  for  perpetual  desolation."  Such  an  inter- 
pretation, however,  leaves  the  first,  really  essential,  part  of  the  verse 
unexplained  :  Because  he  dwelleth  in  ruined  cities,  in  houses  forbidden 
to  be  inhabited.  The  verse  fuids  its  explanation  in  the  common 
Semitic  notion  that  ruins  are  haunted  by  evil  spirits  —  primarily  by 
the  spirits  of  those  that  were  killed  and  left  unburied  at  the  time  the 
ruin  was  accomplished.^    This  notion  is  met  with  throughout  Semitic 

1  In  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  literature  the  spirits  of  unburied  bodies 
and  of  those  that  met  with  a  violent  death  figured  prominently  among 
the  dreaded  Utukki  limnuti,  ''Evil  Spirits,"  which  were  thought  to  haunt 
mankind  and  to  work  all  sorts  of  evil.  Similarly  in  Greek  literature,  those 
wretched  spirits  that  could  not  find  rest  in  the  nether  world  constituted 
the  nightly  swarm  of  Hecate.  As  I  pointed  out  in  the  article,  Blood  Re- 
venge and  Burial  Rites,  pp.  306  ff.,  the  rites  and  beliefs  pertaining  to  death 
and  burial  belong  to  the  stock  of  religious  notions  common  to  all  nations. 


NOTES  205 

literature.  Is.  34.  14,  in  speaking  of  the  everlasting  ruins  into  which 
Basra  would  be  converted,  says :  "  Yea,  Lilith  (Babylonian  female 
evil  spirit)  shall  repose  there,  and  find  for  herself  a  place  of  rest." 
Similarly,  Bar.  4.  34,  in  speaking  of  the  prospective  destruction  of 
Babylon,  says :  "  And  demons  will  for  a  long  time  abide  there."  In  the 
Babylonian  and  Assyrian   Utuki  Limnuti  texts  we  read : 

"  O  evil  Demon,  hie  thee  under  the  ruins, 
Where  thou  standest  is  forbidden  ground, 
A  ruined,  desolate  house  is  thy  home."  ^ 

As  in  this  text  the  place  occupied  by  an  evil  Demon  is  spoken  of  as 
"  forbidden  ground,"  so  in  Talmud  babli  Berak.  3,  it  is  forbidden  to 
enter  ruins,  "  because  they  are  haunted  by  evil  Spirits."  Also  the 
following  Syriac  story  attests  to  this  belief :  "  While  a  certain  man  was 
passing  at  night  along  the  road  by  the  side  of  a  fire-temple  of  Magians, 
which  had  been  ruined  for  some  time,  devils  sprang  out  upon  him  in  the 
form  of  black  ravens,  and  they  entered  into  him  and  convulsed  him."  ^ 
Another  instance  of  this  belief  is  an  Ethiopic  magical  prayer,  which  was 
to  be  recited  "  at  the  doors  before  entering  into  a  house  which  was 
old  or  in  ruins  or  unclean."  ^ 

29  His  harvest  will  not  bend  to  the  ground.  The  derivation  of  minla 
from  nala  (=  Arab,  ndla)  is  rightly  considered  by  many  scholars  to 
be  out  of  the  question.  The  original  form  of  the  word  seems  to  me  to 
have  been  '''^^J?,  manle  being  a  composite  of  man,  b3^orm  of  md 
(as  in  man  hu\  Exod.  16.  5),  and  of  le,  just  as  Arab,  mal  is  composed 
of  7nd  -\-  li;  like  the  latter  it  means  ''  possessions  "  (of  whatever  sort, 
whether  herds,  land,  or  chattel) ;  cf .  the  analogous  formations  belli, 
Job  24.  6  and  bellmd,  26.  7 :  the  suffix  amo  is  to  be  considered  as  singu- 
lar as  in  the  case  of  'alemo  20.  23,  22.  2,  27.  23,  and  of  lamo,  Is.  44.  15. 

30  The  wind  will  carry  off  his  fruit.  Read,  as  the  text  has  on  the 
basis  of  the  parallelism  been  emended,  i'")?  nn^  "^J^D'l. 

31,  32.  The  last  word  of  v.  31  is,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  to  be  com- 
bined with  v.  32,  which  originally  formed  the  immediate  continuation 
of  V.  30.     Verse  31  consists  of  disconnected  phrases  which  do  not  admit 

1  See  R.  C.  Thompson,  The  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia,  I,  p. 
139. 

2  See  E.  A.  W.  Budge,  Thomas  of  Marga,  II,  p.  599,  Thompson,  op.  cit., 
I,  p.  xH. 

3  See  Budge,  Lady  Meux  MSS.,  Nos.  2-5,  p.  216,  Thompson,  op.  cit.  I, 
p.  xlii. 


206  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

of  intelligible  translation.  The  two  first  words  have  already  been 
explained.  The  reading  of  Gk.  of  what  remains  is  as  follows :  on 
VTTOixevei,  Keva  yap  aTro^rjO-eTat  avro).  Of  this  text  vnofievet  is  an- 
other rendering  of  jaqum  of  v.  29,  while  the  following  clause  is 
dittography  of  v.  35  a.  His  palm-leaf  will  wither  prematurely.  Read, 
on  the  basis  of  both  the  parallelism  and  Sjt.  and  Gk.,  "in"iiDr\  in- 
stead of  temuratho  and  S'sn  instead  of  timmdle'  —  emendations  which 
have  been  widely  accepted.  Of  the  original  reading  timmal  Ibn  Ezra 
still  had  knowledge.  In  explanation  of  the  present  reading  timmale', 
Perles  has  correctly  observed  that  5<  was  primarily  written  in  the  margin, 
and  meant  to  be  a  correction  of  shaw  of  v.  31,  and  that  a  later  copyist 
erroneously  added  it  to  timnial  of  v.  32.^  Prematurely :  the  phrase 
belo'  jomo  is  a  s^monymous  expression  to  belo'  Htteka,  Eccl.  7.  17 :  it 
is  the  exact  equivalent  of  Assjt.  ina  la  umishu.  His  palm-leaf  will 
wither  prematurely  finds  its  explanation  in  the  fact  that  the  palm-tree, 
being  a  long-lived  tree,  is  a  sj^mbol  of  longe\aty  (cf.  Ps.  92.  13). 

33  As  a  vine  its  um-ipe  grapes,  so  will  he  wrong  his  immature  young : 
bisro  is  an  interestmg  case  of  a  zeugma,  bemg  used  to  denote,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  usual  meanmg,  immature  ijoung. 

35  They  will  be  pregnant  with  trouble  and  beget  misery  is  evidently 
to  be  classed  as  proverbial  phrase ;  it  occurs  again,  almost  verbatim, 
Is.  59.  4.  They  will  harbor  ...  in  their  bosom.  Instead  of  takln, 
Gk.  read  '^^S^,  which  is  preferable.  The  deviation  in  my  translation 
from  the  Hebrew  construction  is  made  necessary  by  the  English. 

Chs.  XVI-XVII  and  their  Constituent  Parts  from  Chs.  XXIX 

AND    XXX 

Synopsis  —  Eliphaz  had  referred  to  his  speech  to  Job  as  "  the 
consolation  of  God"  and  as  revealed  truth,  but  Job  tells >im 
scornfully  that  it  was  but  "wdndy  words,"  and  that  they  are 
"  tiresome  comforters,"  all  three  of  them.  Why  should  they  seek 
to  answer  what  is  unanswerable  ?  Why  weary  him  ^^ith  their 
shallow  arguments  ?  He  sees  through  their  head-shakings,  their 
fine  phrases,  their  lip-sympathy ;  they  think  he  has  been  guilty 
of  some  secret  sin  that  has  dra\vn  dowm  the  wTath  of  God  upon 
him.     This  is  the  interpretation  they,  like  the  rest  of  the  world, 

1  Annalecten  z.  Textkritic  des  Alt.  Test. 


NOTES  207 

have  put  on  his  misfortunes.  ,,  Job  proceeds  to  give  a  detailed 
description  of  the  prosperity  and  veneration  he  enjoyed  in  the 
days  before  the  blow  fell  on  him,  contrasting  with  it  the  picture 
of  his  present  humiliation  and  misery.  He  who  was  revered 
universally,  and  looked  upon  as  a  paragon  of  righteousness, 
has  become  a  byword  to  the  people,  an  object  of  loathing  to 
his  former  friends,  a  butt  of  derision  for  the  rabble.  He  has 
suffered  contumely  and  abuse  at  their  hands,  because  they  look 
upon  him  as  a  guilty  outcast,  singled  out  by  God  for  punishment : 
"To  them  I  am  a  manifest  example."  His  disease  leaves  no 
doubt  in  their  minds  of  his  wickedness,  and  his  various  mis- 
fortunes are  but  added  proof  of  his  guilt.  Nevertheless  he 
maintains  that  his  affliction  is  not  because  of  the  fact  that  he 
has  committed  wrong,  but  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  has  com- 
mitted no  wrong : 

"  I  have  tied  sackcloth  around  my  body, 
And  have  thrust  my  horn  in  the  dust. 
My  face  is  red  with  weeping, 
And  on  my  eyelids  is  the  shadow  of  death. 
Though  my  hands  have  committed  no  wrong, 
And  my  prayer  is  sincere." 

That  he  who  is  without  guilt  should  have  been  plunged  from 
the  height  of  prosperity  into  the  most  abject  misery,  is  a  fact 
that  should  dismay  every  upright  person,  and  rouse  every  just 
and  innocent  man  to  unite  with  him  in  refuting  those  who  preach 
the  false  doctrine  of  retributive  justice : 

"  Let  the  upright  be  appalled  at  this. 

And  the  innocent  be  roused  to  confute  the  hypocrite ! "' 

He  follows  up  this  appeal  with  a  verse  which  in  its  significance 
recalls  13.  16: 

"  Yet  the  righteous  man  will  hold  fast  to  his  way. 
And  he  who  hath  pure  hands  will  gain  in  strength." 


208  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

The  knowledge  of  his  virtuous  life  is  a  tower  of  strength  to  him, 
enabling  him  to  endure  the  manifold  miseries  of  his  terrible 
visitation.    His  clear  conscience  is  his  sure  claim  upon  God : 

"  Even  now  my  witness  is  in  Heaven, 
He  that  voucheth  for  me  is  on  high." 

Of  this  refuge  Job  becomes  increasingly  assured : 

"  And  since  my  friends  deride  me, 

My  streaming  eyes  are  turned  to  God." 

Then  follows  a  moment  of  utter  abandonment  to  his  faith, 
in  which,  oblivious  of  everything  but  his  innocence  and  God's 
knowledge  of  it,  he  appeals  to  God  not  to  let  him  die  —  not  to 
let  that  happen  agamst  which  he  should  have  just  cause  to 
complain,  that  he  be  stricken  with  death  notwithstanding  his 
blameless  life : 

"  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood. 
Let  there  be  no  place  for  my  outcry !" 

Like  the  wish  expressed  in  14.  13,  15-17,  this  prayer  of  Job's 
reveals  the  conflicting  emotions  mthin  him.  It  is  the  cry  of 
the  agonized  human  soul  for  what  it  knows  is  impossible.  In 
the  next  moment  the  stern  reality  asserts  itself  to  his  reason, 
and  he  modifies  his  prayer.  He  no  longer  asks  God  to  let  him 
live,  but  to  vindicate  him,  to  vouch  for  his  integrity  before  his 
fellowTuen,  to 

"Take  sides  in  the  conflict  between  a  man  and  his  fellowmen. 

Give  surety  for  me  unto  ThyseK ! 

Who  else  would  pledge  himself  for  me?" 

We  shall  find  that  this  desire  of  Job's  for  vindication  becomes 
from  this  point  on  the  leading  motive  in  all  his  outpourings. 
For  the  moment  he  dwells  on  the  lack  of  spiritual  understand- 
ing in  the  friends : 


NOTES  209 

"Their  minds  Thou  hast  closed  to  understanding, 
Therefore  canst  Thou  not  permit  them  to  triumph.'' 

He  quotes  an  adage  as  illustrative  of  the  presumption  of  the 
friends  who,  notwithstanding  their  mental  darkness,  think  to 
enlighten  him : 

"It  is  as  if  a  man  should  invite  his  friends  to  a  portion, 
While  his  children  were  weeping  their  eyes  out." 

In  explanation  of  this  proverb,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  it 
was  a  custom  among  the  ancient  Arabs,  when  holding  a  slaugh- 
ter-feast, to  distribute  the  meat  portions  among  the  invited 
guests  by  lot.  Pre-Mohammedan  poetry  shows  that  it  was 
not  uncommon  (in  fact  it  was  thought  highly  commendable) 
for  an  indigent  person  to  contract  debts  in  order  to  dispense 
hospitality .1  The  blindness  of  the  friends  who  speak  super- 
ficially of  hope  to  him  stirs  up  the  bitterest  reflections  in  Job, 
who  knows  that  he  has  nothing  to  hope  for  but  the  darkness  of 
the  grave : 

"Verily  I  have  to  look  to  Sheol  for  my  abode, 

In  the  darkness  must  I  spread  my  bed. 

1  must  call  the  pit  father. 

The  worms  mother  and  sister. 

Where  then  is  my  hope  ? 

And  who  can  see  happiness  for  me  ? 

To  the  bars  of  Sheol  will  they  descend 

When  together  we  sink  into  the  grave." 

XVI.  2  enough :  rabboth  is  adverbial  accusative. 

3  Is  there  no  end?  hdqes  cannot  mean  "  Have  .  .  .  now  "  or  "  at 
last  an  end,"  as  the  phrase  is  either  explained  or  translated ;  instead 
of  n  the  text  mus^  have  originally  read  j'^n.     What  aileth  thee  seems 

1  Cf.  Hamasae  Carmina  ed.  Freytag,  409,  v.  1,  and  Mutammim's  Elegy 
over  Malik  in  Noldeke  Beitrdge  z.  Kenntnis  d.  Poesie  d.  alten  Araber,  p. 
98,  V.  9f . 


X 


210  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

to  me  the  accurate  rendering  of  jamris :  it  was  understood  in  this 
sense  already  by  the  Gk.,  which  renders  rt  Trap^voyXyjcra  o-ot  "  what 
annoys  thee." 

XVII.  10  No  matter  how  ye  keep  on  arguing.  Read,  in  accord- 
ance with  several  Mss.,  Gk.  Sah.  S^.,  Syr.,  and  Vulg.^  opS^ :  of 
tashubic  uba'u  na\  which  cannot  connote,  as  generally  interpreted, 
resume  the  argument,  uba'u  na'  is  not  original  text.  It  was  not  read  by 
Gk.,  Koi  Bevre  Srj  being  Hexaplaric,  as  is  shown  by  its  omission  in  Sah. 
and  its  being  sub  *  in  S*^.  The  original  reading  has  been  preserved  by 
Gk.,  epetScTc  which,  as  Beer  has  pointed  out,  is  mistake  for 
original  ipitere;^  this  is  shown  by  etetntiton  ("  contend,"  "  dispute  ") 
of  Sah.,  metheren  anton  of  S^.  From  this  reading  of  Gk.  it  may  be 
concluded  that  for  uba'u  na  the  text  originally  read  ^i^'^ni.  17.  10, 
which  in  its  present  place  has  no  logical  connection,  fits  in  well  here, 
and  makes  the  thought  expressed  in  16.  2-3  m.ore  complete. 

XVI.  4  if  ye  were  in  my  place.  As  often,  nefesh  with  the  pronominal 
suffix  is  used  as  the  equivalent  of  the  personal  pronoim.  I  might 
inveigh  against  you  in  eloquent  phrases,  'ahbira  is  used  here  with 
the  same  meaning  as  Arab,  habbara  (pa"al)  "  to  compose  in  skillful 
language ;  "  ^  with  this  meaning  of  the  word  also  Neo-hebraic  mehabber, 
"  author,"  may  be  compared. 

5  'a  ammiskem  denotes  here  I  might  give  you  comfort,  as  the  parallel- 
ism shows.  And  be  generous  in  my  lip-sympathy.  Read,  in  accord- 
ance with  Gk.  and  Syr.,  "p^^  i<'>  — a  widely  accepted  emendation. 

6  As  it  is  or  but.  nn;;  "jX  of  v.  7  must  originally  have  introduced 
V.  6 :  the  phrase  has  no  force  in  v.  7,  no  matter  whether  the  verse  is 
read  as  continuation  of  v.  6  or  in  the  place  assigned  to  it  by  me.  Proof 
that  the  phrase  originally  belonged  to  v.  6  may  be  seen  in  Vulg.,  Sed 
quid  agamf  which  is  a  very  good  paraphrase.  Nor  doth  it  leave  me ; 
as  in  31.  1, 1  Sam.  9.  7,  yna  Httanu,  I  Ki.  12.  16,  ma  lanu  heleq  (cf.  II 
Sam.  20.  1),  ma  is  used  as  a  negative  particle. 

XXIX.  2ff.  The  view  that  ch.  29  is  not  in  its  original  place  has  been 
repeatedly  expressed.  To  my  mind  it  followed  16.  6.  It  is  also  widely 
acknowledged  that  the  chapter  has  not  come  down  in  its  original  order. 
By  the  rearrangement  proposed  here  the  verses,  as  will  be  seen,  read 
most  coherently.  The  omitted  verses  12-17  belonged  originally  to 
ch.31. 

3  When  His  lamp  shone  over  my  head.    The  idea  underlymg  these 

^  Der  Text  des  Buches  Hiob. 

-  See  Barth,  Wurzeluntersuchungen,  p.  17f. 


NOTES  211 

words  is  the  same  notion  to  which  the  origin  of  the  halo  is  to  be  traced, 
through  darkness  :   hoshek  is  adverbial  accusative. 

4  in  the  days  of  my  prime.  As  to  the  meaning  prime  of  life,  vigor 
of  manhood,  with  which  horef  is  used  here,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  word  means  primarily  "  the  full  ripeness  of  the  fruit,"  then 
"  the  season  of  the  fruit  ripening,"  i.e.  "  fall,"  and  that  South-Arab. 
hrf,  "  fall,"  means  also  "  year  " ;  similarly  Ethiopic  harlf  means 
"  current  year."  As  an  interesting  parallel,  Greek  y\L^  and  its  de- 
rivative yXiKia  may  be  pointed  out;  the  former  means  primarily 
"  mature,"  then  "  of  full  age,"  and  the  latter,  "  age,"  "  time,"  then 
"  time  of  life,"  i.e.,  an  age  =  Lat.  seculum,  and  specifically  "  adult 
age,"  "  maturity,"  signifying  both  "  manhood  "  and  '^  youth."  It 
will  accordingly  be  seen  that  veorr/ros  fiov  of  Theod.  and  Sym., 
adolescentiae  meae  of  Vulg.,  hdrifuthl  of  Targ.  are  all  three  correct  ren- 
derings, and  that  the  various  emendations  proposed  are  unwarranted. 
As  has  been  pointed  out  before.  Job  was  stricken  in  the  vigor  of  his 
manhood ;  in  this  verse  we  have  an  express  statement  to  this  effect. 
When  God  sheltered  my  tent.  Instead  of  the  impossible  Hebrew  besod 
construed  with  'al,  read,  m  accordance  with  Gk.,  Sym.,  Syr.,  ^iD3 
(Buhl  and  many  others) ;  this  reading  is  further  supported  by  "  Hast 
Thou  not  hedged  him  about  and  his  house  "  (1.  10)  of  the  Prologue, 
which  the  writer  doubtless  had  in  mind. 

5  my  boys,  see  p.  25. 

6  When  my  steps  were  bathed  in  cream  and  When  the  rock  poured 
out  to  me  streams  of  oil  are  hyperbolic. 

19  And  the  dew  lay  at  night  on  my  harvest.  Like  jasuq  of  v.  6, 
jalln  is  imperfect  of  reiterated  action ;  qasir  denotes  here  harvest 
ready  to  be  gathered  in,  just  as  Is.  17.  5,  18.  5,  Joel  4.  13. 

20  And  the  bow  in  my  hand  took  on  ever  new  strength:  tahalif, 
another  imperfect  of  reiterated  action,  is  ellipsis  for  tahalif  koh 
(cf.  Is.  40.  31,  41.  1) ;  bow,  as  symbol  of  victory  or  power,  is  quite 
common  in  the  Bible  (cf.  Gen.  49.  24, 1  Sam.  2.  4,  Jer.  49. 35,  Hos.  1.  5). 
18  So  that  I  thought  I  should  die  amidst  my  brood.  Just  as  bajith 
may  be  used  with  the  meaning  "  family,"  "  children  "  or  "  offspring  " 
(cf.  Gen.  7.  1,  42.  19,  Exod.  1.  1,  Prov.  24.  27),  so  qen  may  denote 
''  young  ones  "  (cf .  Deut.  32.  11,  Is.  16.  2).  Having  in  mind  the  prema- 
ture death  of  his  children.  Job  says  that  he  had  hoped  to  die  in  the  bosom  , 
of  his  family,  that  is  to  say,  surrounded  by  his  children.  It  has  been 
thought  by  some  that  this  half  verse,  too,  has  reference  to  the  Phoenix, 
which  according  to  the  fable  consumed  himself  in  the  flames  of  his 
own  nest  in  order  to  arise  to  new  life  out  of  the  ashes.     But  such  an 


212  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

interpreta  vion  is  disproved  by  the  second  part  of  the  verse,  And  should 
live  to  old  age  like  the  Phoenix  —  Job  does  not  say  that  he  hoped  to 
live  forever,  but  that  (in  the  days  of  his  prosperitjO  he  hoped  to  reach 
the  utmost  Hmit  of  Hfe ;  note  that  the  parallel  Greek  expression,  <^otVt- 
Kos  trrj  (Slovv,  is  proverbial  for  longevity.  There  is  no  legitimate 
reason  for  questioning  the  ancient  Jewish  tradition,  pointed  out  es- 
pecially by  the  Masora,  that  by  hoi  the  Phoenix  is  meant,  since  the 
form  of  the  Phoenix-fable  met  mth  here  is  not  the  younger  form  of 
later  Greek  and  Roman  literature,  but  the  older  form  as  current  in 
Egypt,  according  to  which  the  old  bird  dies,  and  out  of  the  larva  which 
he  leaves  behind  the  young  bird  creeps  out,  or  arises  out  of  his  blood. 

11  Yea  the  ear  that  heard  of  me  pronounced  me  happy.  The  eye 
that  saw  me  bore  witness  to  my  worth.  Both  parts  of  the  verse  are 
cases  of  brachylogy,  the  suffix  of  te'ashrenl  being  object  also  of  shame'a, 
and  that  of  te'ldenl,  also  of  rd'dtha.  The  accusative  yersonae  with  shama, 
used  with  the  meaning  ''  to  hear  of  "  or  "  about  "  a  person  occurs 
again  42.  5 ;  Gk.  Cod.  A,  ot  Se  aKovaavTC's  Trepl  ifxov,  understood,  in 
fact,  V.  11  a  in  this  sense.  Like  fxapTvpuv  in  the  New  Test. 
(cf.  Lk.  4.  22,  Acts  6.  3,  I  Tim.  5.  10),  he'ld  is  used  here  with  the 
meaning  "  to  bear  good  testimony  about  "  a  person,  "  to  attest  to  his 
worth,"  or  "  express  one's  approval  of  him." 

7  the  city-gate :  sha^ar  'die  qareth  is  a  composite  formed  with  a  prepo- 
sitional phrase,  like  simhath  baqasir,  Is.  9.  2,  et  al. 

8  stood  up :  qdmii  'amadu  are  a  grammatical  unit,  like  qiim  hithalek, 
lek  red. 

10  Verse  10,  which  is  m  thought  identical  with  v.  9,  is  a  variant 
of  the  latter.  Proof  of  this  m.ay  be  seen  also  in  the  fact  that  the  origi- 
nal Greek  did  not  read  it,  but  read  v.  11  as  continuation  of  v.  9 ;  the 
present  v.  10  b  of  Gk.  (  =  10  6  of  Heb.)  is  from  Theod.,  as  is  also  the 
present  v.  11  a  of  Gk.  which  is  another  rendering  of  Heb.  v.  11  a,  both 
being  missing  in  Sah.  and  sub  ^  in  S^. 

21  Attentively  they  listened  to  me  :  wejihellu  is  not  original  text,  but 
dittography  of  the  same  word  with  which  v.  23  begins ;  the  original 
reading  has  been  preserved  by  Gk.,  Trpoa-eaxov,  which  is  i^'^^p'-V 
Silently  they  gave  ear :  wejiddemu  is  another  complementary  verb  to 
shame' u. 

22  Once  I  had  spoken,  they  spoke  no  more.  Instead  of  debarl, 
vocalize  ''}^1.  (Merx  and  many  others) ;  the  half  verse  is  a  case  of 
brachylogy :  the  infinitive  dabher  being  likewise  complementary  verb 
of  jishnu.  They  showed  delight  when  my  words  were  addressed  to 
them.    The  original  first  part  of  v.  22  b  is  missing  in  Heb.,  but  has 


NOTES  213 

been  preserved   in  Gk.  7re/otxapets  8e  eytVovro  oTrore/   the  Hebrew  of 

which  must  have  been  '|  ^^^Kh  which  was  followed  by  "i^'^V 
(without  ])  etc.;  the  omission  in  the  Hebrew  text  is  to  be  ex- 
plained as  an  oversight  caused  by  the  identity  of  the  first  two  letters 
of  'alesu  and  'alemo. 

23  They  waited  for  my  speech,  even  as  the  parched  earth  gapeth 
for  the  rain.  Also  in  the  case  of  this  verse,  the  present  Hebrew  is 
altogether  inferior  to  its  reading  in  Gk.,  wairep  yy  Snj/^aa  TrpocrSexo/xevT; 
Tov  verov,  ovtws  ovtol  T7]v  ifxrjv  AoAtav  7rpo<Te8e;(ovTo  [Cod.  A,  Sah.  Boh. 
Prs  249].  Wliile  the  text  of  the  Hebrew  is  decidedly  prosaic,  that  of 
the  Greek  is  highly  poetic,  and  the  symmetry  of  vv.  21-23  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  As  a  tentative  reconstruction  of  the  Hebrew 
I  suggest :  K^'ip^^^  n^s  nnrs  n^v  y^^^  '^.^fl  "^^^'X 

24  when  they  lacked  confidence :  lo'  ja'dmmu  is  used  with  a  mean- 
ing similar  to  15.  22,  24.  22.  The  light  of  their  faces  remained  no  longer 
overcast.  Verse  24  b,  as  it  reads  at  present,  cannot  be  the  original 
reading.  Not  that  the  expression  hippll  'or  panaw  is  in  itself  objec- 
tionable, as  Budde  and  Duhm  think:  on  the  contrary  it  is  a  good 
Hebrew  idiom,  being  the  antithesis  of  nasa'  'or  panow.  The  latter 
is  identical  with  nasa'  panaw,  or  to  state  it  correctly,  nasa'  panaw  is 
ellipsis  of  nasa'  'or  panaw,  construed  with  'el  or  'al  personae,  both  mean 
"  to  look  graciously  at  "  (cf.  Nu.  6.  26,  Ps.  4.  7  2)  ;^  simHarly  hippll  'or 
panaw  is  identical  with  hippll  panaw,  the  latter,  which  occurs  Jer.  3.  12, 
being  ellipsis  of  the  former.  The  mistake  lies  with  the  pronominal 
suffix  of  the  first  sing.,  for  as  in  the  case  of  the  repeatedly  occurring 
nasa'  panaw,^  so  in  tha+  of  hippll  panaw  the  pronominal  suffix  of 
p&ne  is  by  the  nature  of  the  case  always  reflexive.  The  text  must 
originally  have  read  ^^1^,  which  was  written  in  abbreviated  form  '^3 
and  not  recognized.  The  plural  of  the  verb  is  to  be  explained  as 
constructio  ad  sensum ;  and  as  to  the  Hifil  both  here  and  Jer.  2.  12,  it 
belongs  in  the  same  class  as  hoblsh,  hashqet,  hashmem,  the  meaning  of 
which  in  Hifil  is  practically  identical  with  Qal  Verse  24  6  might  also 
be  rendered  in  positive  form,  their  faces  lit  up. 

1  As  Cod.  A,  Sah.  S^^.  Hie.  Prs.  249  read  correctly  for  oirdrav  of  Cod. 

2  In  Ps.  4.  7  nesa,  with  samek,  is  another  spelling  for  nesa',  with  sin,  due 
to  Aramaic. 

2  In  addition  to  the  examples  already  mentioned,  cf.  Job  22.  26,  "thou 
mayest  look  trustfully  to  God";  also  the  like  phrase  II  Ivi.  19.  22  (Is. 
37.  23)  'al  ml  .  .  .  wattisa'  marom  *enceka,  "at  whom  dost  thou  look  de- 
fiantly" (marom  is  adverbial  accusative). 


214  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

25  Whenever  I  chose  to  take  my  way  to  them.  The  pronoun  darkam 
has  the  force  of  an  objective  genitive  (cf.  the  parallel  example  28.  23) ; 
it  was  already  understood  as  such  by  Vulg.  Si  voluissem  ire  ad  eos.  I 
led  them  .  .  I  guided  them.  Read  onjs  ^b?^;  the  emenda- 
tion is  based,  on  the  one  hand,  on  the  fact  that  Sah.  Cod.  D  read  in 
the  case  of  the  second  verb  the  first  sing.,  eietinomte  naw  ("I  comforted 
them  "),  and  on  the  other,  on  Sym.  /caucus  dTrayet  avTov<;  oSrjyCyy  which 
shows  that  Sym.  read,  instead  of  dbhelim,  Hif'il  of  jabal,  and  instead 
of  jenahem,  Hif 'il  of  naha.     This  part  of  v.  25  is  clearly  fragmentary. 

XXX.  Off.  I  shall  not  discuss  the  internal  evidence  in  support  of 
my  rearrangement  of  the  parts  of  chaps.  30. 16.  and  17.  describing  Job's 
present  humiliation.  I  merely  ask  that  the  student  read  them  in 
their  present  disjointed  text-order,  then  in  the  order  in  which  I  placed 
them.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  in  anj^  one's  mind 
after  such  a  comparative  reading  that  the  latter  is  more  nearly  the 
original  sequence  in  which  the  author  wTote  them. 

XXX.  9,  10,  1.  External  evidence  that  30.  9-10  followed  originally 
29.  25,  and  that  they  were  followed  by  v.  1  may  be  seen  in  we'atta  with 
which  both  the  latter  and  v.  9  now  begin.  Since  obviously  the  adverb 
can  have  been  read  in  one  of  the  two  verses  only,  the  present  reading 
of  it  in  both  verses  is  to  be  explained  as  follows  :  w.  9-10  were  omitted 
by  a  copjast  after  29.  25,  with  the  exception  of  their  first  word  ice'atta; 
they  were  put,  together  with  we'atta  as  a  cue,  in  the  margin,  whence 
they,  with  the  cue,  were  later  inserted  in  their  present  place.  Note 
that,  as  in  the  case  of  10.  22,  16.  9  et  al,  the  copyist  responsible  for 
the  omission  further  indicated  the  place  where  the  omitted  verses 
belong  by  a  pasek  after  we'atta.  Verses  2-8  of  ch.  30  belonged  origi- 
nally to  ch.  24. 

9  I  am  the  object  of  their  derisive  songs.  As  m  Ps.  69.  13,  Lam.  3. 
14,  derisive  songs  are  meant  by  negina.  Such  songs,  it  is  important  to 
note,  had  often  little  in  common  with  what  in  Occidental  literature  is 
understood  by  derisive  songs,  but,  like  the  Higa  in  Arabic  literature 
later,  were  songs  of  imprecation,  calling  down  curses  and  destruction 
upon  the  person  at  whom  they  were  directed.  Examples  of  such 
songs  are  Ps.  58  and  109. 

1  The  lowest  people  deride  me,  people  whom  I  hold  unworthy  to 
be  placed  with  the  dogs  of  my  flock.  In  v.  1  a  mimmenni  lejamim 
is  not  original  text,  as  is  showTi  by  its  omission  in  Gk. :  whether  what 
Gk.  has  in  its  place,  vovOerovarLv  fxe  iv  /nepci,  "  they  take  turns  in 
admonishing  me,"  was  read  by  the  original  or  not  cannot  be  ascer- 
tamed.    Neither  is  'dbotham  of  v.  1  6  original  text :  this  may  be  seen 


NOTES  215 

from  the  fact  that  'asher  ma'astl  is  rendered  in  the  present  Greek 
twice,  (1)  wv  iiovSivovv,  and  (2)  ovs  ovx  -^yrja-dixrjv  d^tovs,  and  that 
the  first  of  these,  together  with  Trarcpag  avrwv  is  Hexaplaric,  being 
sub  *  in  S^  and  missing  in  Sah.  Cod.  XXIV  and  IC.  'dbotham  is 
evidently  the  addition  of  a  prosaic  editor  to  whom,  in  view  of  Job's 
changed  circumstances,  the  reference  to  the  dogs  of  his  flock  seemed 
incongruous ;  due  to  this  addition,  se'irim  was  taken  to  mean  ''  younger 
people,"  and  consequently  mimmenni  lejamlm  was  added.  Sa%r  is  used 
again  with  the  meaning  ''  low,"  "  contemptible,"  Ps.  119.  141. 

XVI.  10  They  are  banded  together  against  me.  This  meaning  of  ^alai 
jithmalla'un  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  similarly  Arab,  tamdla'u  with 
'ala  H-amri  means  "  they  are  banded  together  against  "  or  "  conspire 
against  a  person." 

11  impudent  youths.  As  in  19.  18,  ^awll  is  used  in  an  odious  sense. 
Similarly,  German  Buhe,  the  equivalent  of  English  "  boy,"  may  be 
used  in  the  sense  of  impudent  hoy. 

XXX.  11  Since  He  loosened  my  bow  string  through  the  afflictions 
He  hath  brought  upon  me,  they  have  cast  off  all  restraint  in  my  presence. 
If  the  Masoretic  reading  ^^.^\,  supported  also  by  Syr.  and  Targ., 
is  accepted,  the  verse  presents  no  difficulty.  In  v.  11a  waj'anneril 
is  a  circumstantial  clause  to  pittah ;  both  together  form  a  causal  clause 
dependent  on  116.  Further,  jithrl  is  ellipsis  for  jether  qashtl,  and 
with  loosened,  is  a  metaphor  expressing  just  the  opposite  of  29.  18  b, 
"  The  bow  in  my  uplifted  hand  renewed  vigor  unceasingly."  Also 
resen,  "  bridle,"  is  used  here  figuratively.  The  meaning  of  the  verse 
is  obvious.  Concluding  the  first  part  of  the  description  of  his  present 
humiliation  and  misery.  Job  points  out,  how  there  is  now  no  trace  of 
the  veneration  he  once  enjoyed;  in  consequence  of  God's  visitation 
which  has  wrought  ruin  with  him,  the  people  have  thrown  off  all 
restraint  in  his  presence. 

XVI.  7  and  first  phrase  of  8  He  hath  sapped  my  strength  seems  to 
me  the  meaning  of  heVani  here.  He  hath  brought  ruin  upon  me : 
hashimmotha  has  been  rightly  emended  by  Duhm  and  also  Beer-K. 
to  '^Wi} ;  a  certain  support  of  this  emendation  may  be  seen  in  Gk., 
a-ca-qiroTa,  which  is  used  40.  12  with  the  meaning  "  to  crush  "  or 
"  demolish  "  ;  hesham  occurs  with  the  meaning  ''  destroy  "  or  "  ruin  " 
(a  person)  again  I  Sam.  5.  6,  Ezek.  20.  26.  His  whole  legion  holdeth 
me  fast.  Join  the  first  word  of  v.  8  to  v.  7  and  read,  as  Bickell  correctly 
emended,  'J£3Dpn  'im}? ;  there  is  excellent  support  of  this  emenda- 
tion in  Theod.,  since  from  Cod.  (3,  Compl.  Prs.  157,  161,  254  and  also 
106,  261  it  may  safely  be  concluded  that  not  cTreAaySov  but  iireXd/Sero 


216  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

/xe  is  the  original  reading  of  Theod.  The  reading  of  the  present 
Hebrew  is  in  the  fu'st  place  due  to  mistaken  word-division,  the  sufhx 
of  'ddatho,  i.e.,  \  being  wrongly  joined  to  tiqmetenl;  the  present  suffix 
of  the  first  sing,  of  'Math  was  added  subsequently.  Note  that  in  19.  12, 
30.  12-14  Job  elaborates  the  figure,  his  whole  legion,  by  which  he  refers 
here  to  his  affliction  by  God.  It  may  be  added  that  there  are  many 
examples  of  the  use  of  'eda  to  denote  "  host,"  "  legion,"  or  "  multi- 
tude "  of  any  kind  (cf.  Nu.  16.  5  f.,  Judg.  14.  8,  Ps.  7.  8,  22.  17,  86.  14). 

XVII.  7  And  my  body  hath  become  a  shadow.  One  cannot  under- 
stand why  the  genuineness  of  jesuraj  should  have  been  questioned  by 
anyone ;  it  is  the  equivalent  of  Engl.  "  frame."  External  evidence 
that  17.  7  originally  followed  16.  7  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  Vulg. 
read  17.7  b  twice,  in  its  present  place,  et  membra  mea  quasi  in  nihilum 
redacta  sunt,  and  at  the  end  of  16.  7,  et  in  nihilum  redadi  sunt  omnes 
artus  mei.  This  fact  that  Vulg.  read  the  half  verse  in  both  places 
points  to  the  conclusion  that  in  the  Hebrew^  archetype  to  which  it 
must  ultimately  be  traced  only  17.  7  a  was  omitted,  and  that  17.7  b 
was  added  as  a  cue  when  the  omission  was  put  in  the  margin.  One 
might  be  inclined  to  hesitate  about  drawing  tliis  conclusion,  were  it 
not  that  it  receives  additional  weight  from  the  fact  that  the  Greek 
did  not  read  17.  7  6.  ^Yhsit  Gk.  reads  in  its  place  TrewokLopKrjfxaL 
ixeyd\<j}<;  vtto  ttolvtwv,  is  not  even  remotely  related  to  Heb.  17.  7  b. 
Beer's  attempt  to  show  that  the  Greek  is  due  to  a  misreading  of  the 
Hebrew  must  be  considered  unsuccessful,  like  his  similar  attempts  in 
a  number  of  other  cases,  conspicuous  among  which  are  38.  2  and  40.8.^ 

6  He  hath  made  me  a  byword.  Instead  of  meshol  vocalize  b^^?,  as 
the  versions,  with  the  exception  of  S}t.,  read.  To  them  I  am  a  mani- 
fest example.  With  Perles  and  others  either  tofeth  (with-- )  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  byform  of  mofeth,  or  the  latter  is  to  be  read^ ;  the  word 
was  understood  in  this  sense  by  Vulg.  which  renders  exemplum.  As 
here,  mofeth  means  example,  that  is,  of  God's  wrath,  Ps.  71.  7,  "  I  have 
become  an  example  to  many,"  and  Deut.  28.  46.  To  emend  lefanlm, 
as  do  Perles  and  others,  is  wholly  unwarranted  ;  the  prepositional 
phrase  is  a  qualificative  of  mofeth,  it  corresponds  to  Lat.  ante  oculos, 
Engl,  conspicuous.  It  will  be  noticed  that  if  17.  7,  6  is  placed  in  here, 
the  sequence  is  greatly  improved.     17.  6  lends  point  to  16.  8. 

XVI.  8  As  my  malign er  my  disease  hath  arisen  and  beareth  witness 
against  me.  Since  his  disease  has  wrongly  been  looked  upon  as  evi- 
dence of  guilt,  Job  calls  it  bitterly  his  maligner.  This  meaning  of 
kahdshi  cannot  be  doubted,  since  the  versions  uniformly  imderstood 
1  Op.  cit.  2  Op.  cit. 


NOTES  217 

it  in  this  sense.  Their  unanimity  on  this  point  is  doubtless  the  result 
of  a  reliable  tradition.  Grammatically,  kahashl  is  not  subject,  but 
appositive  to  the  subject  of  hajd  and  jaqum,  which  is  disease  ;  that  this 
is  its  grammatical  force  is  shown  by  its  position  in  the  sentence. 

9  Having  become  my  foe.  He  hath  assailed  me  with  unrelenting 
anger.  The  original  place  of  san  was  after  'appo  taraj ;  it  was  omitted 
and  put  in  the  margin  in  front  of  the  next  line,  from  which  it  was 
separated  by  a  pasek ;  to  indicate  the  place  where  it  belonged  another 
yasek  was  put  after  taraf}  sari  is  appositive  to  the  subject  of  wajjiste- 
menl;  cf.  the  similar  example  kahashl  of  the  previous  verse.  This 
interpretation  of  sari  is  supported  by  the  parallel  statement  in  Job's 
following  speech,  ''  Thou  hast  changed  into  a  cruel  enemy  toward  me, 
With  relentless  hand  Thou  persecutest  me,"  30.  21,  as  well  as  by  the 
antithetic  declaration,  "  That  mine  eyes  may  see  Him,  but  not  as  an 
enemy/'  19.  27.  'appaw  taraf  is  not  coordinate  with,  but  is  a  circum- 
stantial clause  to  wajjistemenl ;  in  this  sense  it  was  understood  by  both 
Gk.,  opyfj  •)(pr}(Td^e.vo^,  "indulging  His  anger,"  and  Vulg.,  colle" 
git  furorem  suum.  Engl.  "  a  tearing  rage  "  may  be  mentioned  as  its 
equivalent.  He  cast  murderous  glances  at  me,  to  my  mind,  accurately 
expresses  the  Hebrew  idiom. 

13  His  missiles.  This  meaning  of  rabbaw  may  be  considered  as  cer- 
tain, since  the  versions  without  exception  understood  it  in  this  sense. 
He  hath  struck  or  thrust  through  my  reins  —  struck  them,  that  is,  with 
His  missile  —  is  a  parallel  expression  to  "  Whose  liver  an  arrow  hath 
struck,"  Prov.  7.  23,  the  original  text  of  which,  as  Gk.  Targ.  and  Syr. 
show,  read  "  Like  a  hart  whose  liver  an  arrow  hath  struck."  Proof 
that "  strike  "  or  "  thrust  through,"  and  not  "  to  cleave,"  as  is  generally 
translated,  is  the  meaning  of  pallah  is  fiu-nished  by  the  fact  that  the 
versions,  without  exception,  so  render  pallah,  both  here  and  Prov.  8.  23  : 
Gk.  f3d\Xo)v  and  7re7rA.r;yajs  respectively;  Vulg.  convulneravit  and 
transfigat;  S3T.  sheda'  and  mafr eh,  both,  meaning  "to  thrust;" 
and  Targ.  mafreh  (Prov.  8.  23) .  Both  expressions  "  to  strike  the  reins  " 
and  "  thrust  through  the  liver  "  are  to  be  classed  as  stock  phrases 
common  not  only  to  Semitic  but  also  to  Indo-European  languages. 
The  following  Greek  examples  are  especially  pertinent : 

o  /xev  YjTTTeTO  ^etpecrt  yovvoiv 
UfjLevo<s  XicrcrecrO^j  6  Be  ^ao-yavo)  ovra  KaO*  ^irap^  II.  XX.  468f.  ; 

1  Examples  of  this  function  of  the  pasek  are  frequent  in  the  Old  Test. 

-By  Ufxevos  "desiring"  and  the  conative  imperfect  t/tttcto  the  writer 

implies  that  the  death  blow  came  before  he  could  carry  out  his  intention. 


218  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

TTOLioSk  KaireXvaaT   iv  ^ovats  rpoTTfo 

Trataacr   v^'  rjTrap  avTO^^^p  avT-qv,  Soph.  Ant.  1314f. ; 

Kayoj  fjikv  evyiveiav  aTTOoetgoi  ttoAci, 

Tratcras  Trpos  ^-rrap  ^acryavo),    Eur.  Or.  1062f.  ; 

opCjfxcv  avT-qv  d/xc^tTrXv^yt  <f>a(rydva) 

irXevpav  v(l>  rjirap  koI  cfypeva^  TreTrXrjyfxivrjv,  Soph.  Tracll.  930f. 

These  examples  show  that  "  to  strike  a  person  upon  the  liver  "  really 
means  to  wound  a  'person  mortally,  or  to  deal  him  a  death  blow,  and  that 
the  plirase  is  used  even  for  killing  oneself.  Further,  since  one  of  the 
meanings  of  cfypive?  in  the  physical  sense  is  the  organs  adjoining  the 
liver,  it  may  safely  be  concluded  that  in  virb  .  .  .  ^peVas  TrcTrXrjyfievr] 
of  the  last  example  we  have  the  Greek  equivalent  to  Biblical 
jejallah  kiljothaj.  It  should  be  added  that  "  The  hart  whose  liver 
has  been  thrust  through  with  an  arrow  "  is  also  a  familiar  pictm-e  of 
medieval  art  and  literature.  These  stock-expressions  have  their 
origin  in  the  popular  notion  prevailing  throughout  antiquity,  in  medi- 
cine and  philosophy  as  well  as  in  religion,  that  the  liver  and  its  adjoin- 
ing organs,  the  gall  and  the  kidneys,  are  the  seat  of  both  the  animal 
and  the  intellectual  and  emotional  life.  To  what  extent  this  notion 
held  sway  in  ancient  religion  is  shown  by  the  prominent  role  which 
liver-augm-y  played  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  no  less  than 
among  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  then 
that  He  hath  struck  my  kidneys,  and  He  hath  poured  my  gall  upon 
the  ground  are  sjmonymous  expressions,  either  of  which  means  that  God 
has  dealt  Mm  a  death  blow.  We  have  thus  in  vv.  12-13  one  continu- 
ous thought  developed.  In  highly  poetic  language  Job  describes  how 
he  has  been  stricken  by  God  wdth  a  fatal  disease :  the  imperfects  are 
imperfects  of  progressive  duration,  and  as  such  are  descriptive  of  the 
nature  of  the  disease  from  which  Job  was  suffering.  A  person  stricken 
by  elephantiasis  actually  dies  l^y  inches :  the  members  of  the  body  rot 
away,  and  drop  off  one  by  one. 

14  Blow  upon  blow  He  hath  dealt  me.  Note  that  paras  is  used  with 
the  meaning  "  to  work  destruction  "  or  "  infhct  calamity,"  II  Sam. 
6.  8  (cf.  V.  7),  Ps.  106.  29,  and  with  the  meaning  "  to  demolish," 
II  Chron.  20.  37  (cf.  parallelism),  and  that  peres  has  the  meaning 
"  catastrophe  "  or  "  calamity,"  Judg.  21. 15,  II  Sam.  6.  8. 

15  I  have  thrust  my  horn  into  the  dust,  'alal  is  the  same  verb  as 
Aram,  'al,  Arab,  'alia,  meaning  "  to  enter,"  ''  insert,"  ''  thrust."  The 
half  verse  is  figurative  for  /  have  abandoned  all  hope,  horn  being  symbol 


NOTES  219 

of  both  strength  and  prosperity,  cf.  Ps.  148.  14,  "  He  hath  lifted  up  the 
horn  of  His  people." 

XVII.  8,  9  That  the  original  place  of  these  two  verses  must  have 
been  after  16. 17  has  already  been  noted  by  Hontheim.  Let  the  inno- 
cent be  roused  to  confute  the  hypocrite  :  jith'orar  'al  means  "  be  roused 
in  opposition  to,"  and  here,  it  follows  from  the  context,  it  means  specifi- 
cally be  roused  to  rebut  or  to  confute. 

XXX.  28  b,  which  is  not  logically  related  either  to  30.  28  a  or  30. 
29  ff.,  is  a  suitable  introductory  formula  to  Job's  prayer  16.  18. 

XVI.  18  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood,  Let  there  be  no  place 
for  my  outcry.  The  prevailing  interpretation  of  the  verse  is  based 
on  the  erroneous  view  that  in  ancient  Israel  bloodshed  called  for 
vengeance  only  when  the  murdered  person  was  left  unburied,  or  in 
Biblical  phraseology,  when  his  blood  was  left  uncovered,  unabsorbed 
by  the  earth.  I  discussed  this  point  at  length  in  the  article,  Blood 
Revenge  and  Burial  Rites  in  Ancient  Israel  (in  JAOS.  1919,  pp.  303- 
321),  which  I  worked  out  originally  in  order  to  show  the  basis  for  the 
interpretation  of  this  verse,  but  which,  as  it  grew  beyond  permissible 
length,  I  published  separately.  I  shall  limit  myself  to  a  few  brief 
references  to  this  article.  *'  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood  "  has 
generally  been  explained  to  mean  that  Job  prays  that,  when  he  dies,  his 
blood,  i.e.  his  body,  may  be  left  unburied  to  appeal  to  Heaven  for 
vengeance  for  his  premature  and  unjust  death.  In  line  with  this 
interpretation  the  second  part  of  the  verse  is  as  a  rule  translated: 
"  And  let  my  cry  have  no  resting-place,"  and  is  explained  to  mean  that 
Job  prays  that  his  post  mortem  cry  for  vengeance  may  not  be  inter- 
cepted, but  that  it  may  penetrate  unto  God.  This  translation  of  the 
second  half  verse,  it  may  readily  be  seen,  is  unfounded,  for  in  addition 
to  the  fact  that  the  interpretation  reads  far  more  into  resting-place 
than  the  word  can  possibly  imply,  there  is  the  far  weightier  objection 
that  maqom  does  not  mean  resting-place  at  all,  either  in  Hebrew  or  in 
any  of  the  cognate  languages.  The  translation  of  the  AV.  '*  And  let 
my  cry  have  no  place,"  is  decidedly  superior  to  that  adopted  by  the 
RV.  and  the  exegetes.  But  this  is  a  minor  point  compared  with  the 
fact  that,  even  if  the  notion  on  which  the  prevailing  interpretation  of 
the  verse  is  based  were  a  real,  instead  of  a  purely  imaginary  one,  it 
would  have  no  relevancy  to  the  case  in  question ;  for  since  Job  was 
threatened,  not  with  a  violent,  but  with  a  natural  death  from  disease 
at  the  hand  of  God,  it  is  obvious  that  his  death,  however  premature 
and  unjust,  was  not  a  case  for  blood-revenge.  It  is  absurd  to  represent 
Job  as  appealing  to  God  to  avenge  his  unjust  death  —  avenge  it  on 


220  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

whom  ?  on  God  himself  ?  The  situation  would  be  quite  different  from 
that  met  with  later  on  in  w.  20-22,  17.  3,  where  Job,  praying  for  his 
vindication,  appeals  from  the  God  who  has  mercilessly  smitten  him  to 
the  God  of  love  and  compassion  —  the  God  of  his  faith.  The  decisive 
point  is  that  neither  in  Israel  nor  among  any  other  people  of  ancient 
times  did  the  notion  exist  that  violent  death  called  for  vengeance 
only  as  long  as  the  blood  remained  uncovered,  or,  what  is  the  same 
thing,  as  long  as  the  slain  one  was  left  unburied. 

As  in  pre-Mohammedan  Arabia,  so  in  Israel,  blood-revenge  was 
sought  for  those  slain  in  blood-feuds  or  for  those  deliberately  mur- 
dered (and  at  one  time  for  those  killed  wathout  premeditation  or  de- 
sign), irrespective  of  whether  the  slain  person  was  duly  buried  or  not. 
Thus  Joab  avenged  the  blood  of  his  brother  Asahel  on  Abner  after 
Asahel's  remains  had  been  buried  (II  Sam.  2.  14-32,  3.  27-30).  Fur- 
ther, David  on  his  death-bed  enjoined  upon  Solomon  to  avenge  the 
blood  of  Abner  (slain  thirty  years  previously),  and  of  Amasa,  on  their 
slayer  Joab  (for  David  himself  it  would  have  been  too  risky  a  matter 
to  seek  vengeance  for  either  of  them) ;  yet  of  Abner  we  are  told  that  he 
was  buried  immediately  after  his  death,  and  moreover  that  the  burial 
ceremonies  were  performed  by  the  king  and  the  entire  nation  (II 
Sam.  3.  29f.,  31-39 ;  I  Ki.  2.  5f.,  31ff.).  Note  finally  that  in  the  story 
of  Genesis  about  Cain's  being  called  to  account  for  the  blood  of  his 
brother  crying  for  vengeance,  commonly  quoted  in  support  of  the  pre- 
vailing interpretation  of  Job  16.  18,  the  very  opposite  is  stated,  that 
Abel's  blood  had  been  absorbed  by  the  earth :  "Be  thou  cursed  from 
the  ground  which  opened  its  mouth  to  receive  the  blood  of  thy  brother 
from  thy  hands  "  (Gen.  4.  10-11). 

Arabic  literature,  I  showed,  furnishes  abundant  proof  to  the  same 
effect.  I  showed  further  that  among  the  Semites  blood-revenge  was 
governed  by  the  same  primitive  belief  as  in  ancient  Greece  —  the  belief 
that  the  souls  of  those  who  have  met  with  a  violent  death  cannot  find 
rest  in  the  nether  world,  but  are  condemned  to  haunt  the  earth  as 
wretched  spirits  until  their  death  has  been  duly  avenged  on  their 
slayers.  Finally  I  showed  that  the  customary  interpretation  of  Job 
16.  18  has  no  basis  either  in  Is.  26.  21  or  in  Ezek.  24.  7-8. 

The  meaning  of  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood  becomes  very  plain, 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  blood  was  thought  to  be  the  seat 
of  life,  or  of  the  soul,  of  every  being,  and  that  accordingly  dam  occurs 
in  Gen.  9.  4,  and  Lev.  17.  14,  and  also  Deut.  27.  25,  as  an  equivalent 
term  of  nefesh,  meaning  "  life,"  "  person,"  "  self."  It  is  in  this  same 
sense  that  it  is  used  here  in  Job.     Similarly  dam  is  used  Ps.  72.  14, 


NOTES  221 

"  May  their  life  (damam)  be  precious  in  his  eyes,"  as  is  shown  by  naf- 
sham  of  the  parallel  clause,  and  again  Ps.  30.  10,  "  What  profit  is  there 
if  my  life  is  sacrificed  "  (bedami) ;  ^  and  finally  I  Sam.  26.  20, ''  'aljippol 
daml  'arm  away  from  the  presence  of  God."  Neither  in  Ps.  30.  10  and 
72.  14  nor  in  I  Sam.  26.  20  does  dam  imply  a  violent  death.  In  I  Sam. 
26.  20  David  does  not  express  the  fear  that  if  he  were  to  be  killed  in  a 
foreign  land  there  would  be  none  to  avenge  his  blood  (as  the  verse  is 
generally  explained),  but  expresses  the  wish  that  he  may  not  die  in  a 
foreign  land.  As  I  showed,  p.  316  of  the  article,  the  belief  which  pre- 
vailed in  Greece  that  not  to  be  buried  in  one's  native  country  was  a 
terrible  punishment,  was  shared  by  ancient  Israel,  and  still  prevails 
among  the  Bedouin  of  Arabia  Petraea.  'al  jippol  daml  'arsa  means 
Let  me  not  sink  into  the  grave,  i.e.  let  me  not  die.  The  expression  be- 
longs in  the  category  of  stock  phrases  not  limited  to  Hebrew  and 
Semitic  languages,  but  common  also  to  Indo-European  languages ;  its 
Greek  equivalent  is  yaiav  or  x^^va  8vvai  ''  to  sink  into  the  earth," 
or  "  to  go  to  the  grave,"  11.  6.  19  and  411.  A  similar  stock  phrase 
is  'eves  'al  tekassi  daml,  meaning  Let  me  not  (die  and)  be  laid  in  the 
earth;  for  its  numerous ' Arabic  and  Greek  equivalents  see  p.  317f.  of 
the  article. 

The  origin  of  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood  and  its  parallels  in  Arabic 
and  Greek  is  to  be  sought,  it  seems  to  me,  not  so  much  in  the  fact 
that  interment  was  the  oldest  method  of  burial  the  world  over,  as  in  the 
imiversal  practice  that  went  with  it  of  embedding  the  body  in  a  laj^er 
of  gravel  and  clay  and  of  covering  it  with  clay  and  gravel,  or  with 
sand  and  dust,  even  when  placed  in  an  urn  or  immured.  This  prac- 
tice prevailed  in  Greece  in  the  Mycenaean  Age  as  well  as  throughout 
Northern  Europe  in  prehistoric  times ;  and  the  excavations  of  recent 
years  have  shown  that  it  was  also  common  in  Canaan  for  over  a  thou- 
sand years  prior  to  its  conquest  by  Israel,  and  that  it  continued  to  pre- 
vail among  the  conquerors  throughout  preexilic  times,  if  not  throughout 
their  entire  history. 

The  meaning  of  the  second  part  of  Job  16.  18  is  as  simple  as  the 
first  part,  maqom  le  means  "  place  for,"  "  room  for,"  or  "  occasion 
for  " ;  with  this  meaning  maqom  le  occurs  again  Sir.  4.  5,  Zo'  titten  Id 
maqom  leqalelka,  "  give  him  no  occasion  for  cursmg  thee."  This  mean- 
ing of  maqom  le  requires  no  further  discussion,  as  it  has  its  exact  analo- 

1  The  preposition  be  is  be  of  price ;  bedami  of  this  example  is  akin  to 
benafsho,  "at  the  risk,"  and  "at  the  peril  of  his  life,"  I  Ki,  2.  23  and 
Prov.  7.  23  respectively,  et  alit.  dam  with  the  meaning  "life"  is  found  also 
in  Talmudic  Ajamaic  and  Neo-Hebraic  and  in  Arabic. 


222  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

gon  in  English  place  for,  or  room  for,  in  Greek  toVo?  and  in  moxvy  other 
languages.  The  translation  of  Job  16.  18  h  is  Let  there  be  no  place  for 
my  outcry.  Instead  of  the  unnatural  prayer  which  the  prevailing  in- 
terpretation carries  into  the  verse,  the  momentary  prayer  which  Job 
really  utters  is  the  simplest,  the  most  natural,  that  can  be  imagined. 
He  prays  that  he  may  be  saved  from  the  grave,  so  that  there  may  be 
no  place  any  more  for  his  complaint  that,  notwithstanding  his  blame- 
less life,  he  has  been  stricken  with  death. 

21  And  take  sides  in  the  conflict  between  a  man  and  his  fellowmen. 
Read,  in  accordance  with  5  Mss.,  j'?^  —  a  reading  which  has  been 
widely  accepted ;  the  mistaken  vocalization  j^  has  been  caused  by  the 
scriptio  defediva.  wejokah  is  a  case  of  zeugma,  both  the  object  legeber 
and  the  prepositional  phrase  ben  'adain  etc.,  being  dependent  on  it. 
That  He  may  plead  for  a  man  with  God,  and  its  parallel  17.  3,  "  Give 
surety  for  me  before  Thee,"  are  highly  effective ;  they  fuid  their  ex- 
planation in  the  fact  that  Job  is  appealing  from  the  God  who  has  merci- 
lessly smitten  him  to  the  God  of  love  and  compassion  —  the  God  of 
his  faith. 

22  For  the  allotted  years  near  their  end  etc.  The  verse  shows  that 
Job  entertains  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  fatal  nature  of  his  disease. 

XVII.  3  Give  surety  for  me.  Vocalize,  as  many  scholars  have 
emended,  "i^"'>* ;  that  this  must  have  been  the  original  reading  follows 
from  the  fact  that  according  to  the  present  text  slma  would  be  without 
an  object ;  the  reading  is  supported  also  by  Sjo*.  and  Targ. 

4  Thou  canst  not  permit  them  to  triumph.  The  verse  presents  no 
difficulty  whatever;  libbam,  which  is  to  be  construed  as  object  also 
with  teromem  is  a  case  of  brachylogy.  Theod.  and  Targ.  understood 
the  construction  perfectly,  but  supplied  the  object  in  accordance  with 
the  sense  rather  than  -svith  the  grammatical  construction. 

5  to  a  portion.  The  substantive  leheleq  is  faultless  text ;  it  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  distribution  of  the  portions  by  lot  is  referred 
to  (see  the  Synopsis). 

12  Night  they  pronounce  day,  in  the  face  of  darkness  they  declare 
light  to  be  nigh.  The  verse  is  perfect,  though  it  has  generally  been 
misunderstood,  and  even  unwarrantedly  been  amended :  jaslmu  is  a 
case  of  zeugma,  both  lajla  and  'or  being  dependent  on  it  as  object 
(cf.  Is.  5.  20  where  slm  is  used  as  a  synonym  of  'amar) ;  the  specific 
meaning,  in  the  face  of,  which  mipipene  has  here,  is  closely  related  to  the 
meaning  it  often  has,  "  in  the  presence  of,"  as  e.g.  Lev.  19.  32,  "  In 
the  presence  of  an  aged  man  thou  shalt  stand  up,"  Mic.  1.  4,  "  As 
wax  melts  in  contact  with  fire."    The  verse,  which  in  its  present  place 


NOTES  223 

is  connected  neither  with  the  preceding  nor  with  the  following  verses, 
fits  in  well  here ;  it  furnishes  additional  illustration  of  the  blindness  of 
the  friends  who  hold  out  hope  to  Job  even  though  the  night  of  death 
is  gradually  setting  in  on  him. 

XXX.  26  forms  a  suitable  connecting  link  between  17.  12  and  17. 
llff.  The  idle  hope  which  his  friends  have  held  out  to  him  recalls  to 
Job's  mind  how  he  himself  had  been  full  of  confidence,  but  that  while 
he  trusted  that  his  prosperity  would  be  enduring  (see  29.  18),  irretriev- 
able disaster  overtook  him. 

XVII.  11  My  days  pass  by  as  quickly  as  thought.  Like  jnezimmoth 
21.  27,  zimmotfi  here  means  thought,  and  was  understood  in  this  sense 
by  Vulg.,  Targ.,  and  Syr. :  zimmoth,  the  suffix  of  which  is  to  be  omitted, 
in  accordance  with  Syr.,  is  accusative  of  comparison ;  cf .  the  parallel 
Ps.  90.  9,  "  We  finish  our  years  as  quickly  as  thought,"  where  the  com- 
parison is  expressed  by  the  particle  hemo.  This  meaning  of  zimrnoth 
is  also  supported  by  Gk.,  h  8/do/xo>  ''  swiftly  "  —  as  Cod.  A,  7  Prs. 
and  Aid.  correctly  read  instead  of  iv  ^p6fx(o  —  which  paraphrases  the 
adverbial  accusative  zimmoth.  It  may  be  noted  that  iv  Spo/xia  is  ver- 
nacular (KOLvrj)  Greek  usage  for  the  dative  of  manner  of  classical 
writ,^  and  that  Beer's  emendation  hesimma  on  the  strength  of  h  of 
Gk.^  was  too  hasty.  The  strings  of  my  heart  are  torn.  Beer  rightly 
inferred  from  Gk.  rh.  avOpa  that  morashe  must  be  identical  with  Babyl. 
mahrashu,  Syr.  marsha,  Arab,  marasat,  "  rope,"  "  cord,"  "  string  " ;  ^ 
vocalize,  therefore,  instead  of  mo  of  the  first  syllable,  ma.  This  con- 
clusion is  further  supported  by  the  fact  that  Saadja  paraphrases  the 
word  with  najdt,  "  the  veins  from  which  the  heart  is  suspended."  The 
figurative  meaning  of  the  cords  or  the  strings  of  my  heart  is  beyond 
doubt,  since,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in  connection  with  4.  21,  in  both 
Hebrew  and  Arabic  the  words  for  "  rope,"  "  band,"  and  "  thread  " 
are  used  metaphorically,  even  without  any  additional  qualificative,  to 
denote  "  lifestring." 

Heb.  XXX.  22,  Gk.  and  Heb.  XVII.  1  a  The  wind  is  bearing  me 
aloft  and  carrying  me  away.  Direct  proof  that  the  original  place  of  30. 
22  was  in  17.  1  is  furnished  by  the  fact  that  while  Heb.  20.  22  is  miss- 
ing in  Gk.  (in  ch.  30),  Gk.  17.  1  a  SXiKOfxat  TrvevfiaTi  <;^epo/xevo5  is 
paraphrase  of  Heb.  30.  22  as  the  latter  read  originally.     30.  22  6  of 

1  See  J.  H.  Moulton,  Grammar  of  New  Testament  Greek,  pp.  12,  61f. ; 
Fr.  Blass,  Grammatik  des  Neutestamentlichen  Griechisch,  2d  ed.,  pp.  120 
and  132. 

2  Textcrit.  Studien. 

3  Op.  cit.  and  Kittel  Bibl.  Hebr. 


224  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

the  present  Greek  is  Hexaplaric  (from  Theod.),  being  sub  *  in  S^ 
and  Hie.,  while  Gk.  22  a  eraias  hi  /xe  iv  oSvvais  is  either  variant  of 
Gk.  30.  14  c,  whence  it  got  in  here,  or  ev  6h.  is  dittography  of  14  c, 
and  Ira^as  Se  /xe  belonged  originally  to  v.  23,  being  a  variant  of 
fx€  lKTpL\p€.i  {heshib  is  rendered  with  rao-o-etv  Lam.  3.  21).  TrvevfxarL 
<^epo/x€vos  is  not  to  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with  the  rendering 
of  Vet.  Lat.  and  Hie.,  agitatus  spiritu,  but  in  accordance  with  the 
rendering  of  Sah.  ere  wpna  fi  mmoi,  *'  The  wind  carries  me  away," 
and  the  similar  rendering  of  S^.  men  ruha  mettajtd,  "  carried  away 
by  the  wind,"  which  is  also  that  of  Boh.^  Note  that  also  in  Gk. 
13.  25  <^epo/xeVa)  vtto  Trvev/xaros  means  "  carried  away  by  the  wind  "  in 
the  literal  sense.  On  the  ground  of  Gk.  17.  1  a,  'el  of  Heb.  30.  22  is 
to  be  omitted  and  ruh  is  to  be  considered  the  original  subject  of  all  three 
verbs.  In  further  support  of  this  reading  it  may  be  pointed  out :  — - 
"  To  lift  one  up  to  the  mnd  "  has  no  parallel  anywhere,  while  "  The 
wind  lifts  one  up  "  or  "  bears  one  aloft  and  carries  him  off,"  whether 
in  a  literal  or  in  a  figurative  sense,  occurs  so  frequently  that  it  must 
be  classed  as  a  stockphrase :  cf.  I  Ki.  18.  12,  II  Ki.  2.  16,  Is.  40.  24 
(se'ara),  41.  16,  57.  13,  Ezek.  3.  12,  14,  8.  3,  11. 1,  24,  43.  5,  Job  27.  21 
iqadlm),  21.  18  and  27.  20  {genabattu  sufa) ,  and  also  Hos.  4.  19,  "  The 
wind  hath  \sTapped  her  up  in  its  wings  "  (to  carry  her  off).  Note  also 
that  'el  ruh  cannot  be  construed  with  tarkibenl,  as  Frz.  Delitzsch, 
Dillmann,  Budde  and  others  rightly  observed;  their  translation, 
however,  ''  Du  lassest  mich  daherfahren  "  or  "  dahinfahren  "  is  far 
from  being  clear.  But  the  main  thing  is  that  not  only  with  tarklbhenl, 
but  also  with  tissa'em,  the  construction  of  ruh  wiih.  'el  is  impossible, 
for,  as  the  numerous  examples  just  cited,  fourteen  in  all,  show,  '^  to 
be  carried  away  by  the  wind,"  which  is  generally  granted  to  be  the 
idea  expressed  by  the  half  verse,  can  be  expressed  in  one  way  only, 
by  construing  ruh  as  subject  with  the  active  verb  or  verbs  employed. 
As  here,  hirqlb  has  the  meaning  "  to  carry  off  "  or  "  carry  away,"  II 
Ki.  9.  28,  23.  30. 

It  will  dissolve  me  into  nothingness.  The  majority  of  BibHcal 
scholars  rightly  uphold  the  Kethib  mij^n.2  They  are,  however,  mis- 
taken in  their  derivation  of  tshwh  and  in  their  translation  ''  in  the 

1  Hatch,  Essays  in  Biblical  Greek,  p.  221,  in  translating  irve^fxan  (f>€p6fievos 
"being  agitated  in  spirit"  was  probably  influenced  by  Vet.  Lat.  and  Hie. ; 
he  showed,  however,  by  his  question-mark  that  he  had  doubt  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  translation. 

2  The  Kdre  tushlja  is  to  bte  traced  to  the  same  tradition  as  Theodotian's 
mistaken  interpretation  of  the  entire  verse. 


NOTES  225 

storm,"  or  "  amidst  the  roar  "  or  "  crash  of  the  storm,"  for  the  reason 
that  such  a  meanmg  could  not  be  expressed  by  the  adverbial  accusative 
but  only  by  means  of  the  preposition  be.  Rather  tshwh  is  to  be  consid- 
ered as  derived  from  sha^d  related  to  Aram,  shehd  meaning  "  be  devas- 
tated," "  be  infirm,"  "  be  ruined,"  and  "  to  become  extinct."  In 
support  of  this  derivation  of  tshwh  its  rendering  by  Targ.  with  tashjutha 
"  infirmity,"  may  be  pointed  out.^  How  the  word  is  to  be  vocalized 
cannot  be  ascertained.  It  will  now  be  seen  that  in  ruhl  huhhala  of  Heb. 
17.  1  a  fragment  is  still  left  of  30.  22,  which  originally  stood  here ;  one 
cannot  be  surprised  at  huhhala  when  one  considers  how,  e.g.,  Heb. 
30.  24  has  become  changed  beyond  recognition  (see  below).  As  to 
jdmaj  of  17.  1,  the  prevailing  interpretation  of  it,  which  combines  it  as 
subject  with  niz'aku  and  takes  the  latter  either  as  byform  of  or  as  a 
mistake  for  nid'aku,  cannot  be  entertained  for  the  reason  that  "  my 
days  are  extinct  "  could  not  be  said  in  Hebrew  any  more  than  in  Eng- 
lish. Rather  jdinaj  may  be  considered  external  evidence  that  17.  11 
originally  stood  here,  before  v.  1 ;  this  opening  phrase  of  17.  11  is  all 
that  was  left  of  the  verse  when  it  was  omitted  and  put  in  the  margin 
together  with  jdmaj  as  a  cue ;  later  it  was  moved  from  the  beginning 
into  the  body  of  the  verse. 

XVII.  16  I  pray  for  the  grave,  but  find  it  not.  It  may  safely  be  con- 
cluded from  Gk.  Seo/xai  Se  Ta<f>rj<i  that,  instead  of  niz'aku,  the  text 
originally  read  pil]^,  with  which  qebarlm  ll  is  to  be  construed  as  an 
objective  clause.  This  construction  is  very  common  with  sha^al  (cf. 
e.g.  I  Sam.  12.  19,  Ps.  78.  18,  II  Chron.  1.  11),  and  although  of  its  use 
with  za'aq  no  other  example  occurs,  its  correctness,  to  my  mind,  cannot 
be  questioned,  for  the  reason  that  za'aq  in  the  sense  of  "  implore  "  is 
construed  with  the  accusative  pers.  (cf .  Judg.  12.  2,  Neh.  9. 28,  II  Chron. 
32.  20),  just  as  is  sha'al,  "ask,"  "inquire  of,"  and  "request  of."^ 
The  Hebrew  represented  by  Gk.  1  b(3,  koI  ov  Tvyxdvio,  must  have 
been  ^V?^  ^^1,  with  which  keharlm  of  the  preceding  clause  is  to 
be  construed  as  object,  keharim  being  a  case  of  brachylogy;  of 
this  clause  loi  has  evidently  been  preserved  in  lo'  of  the  first  two  words 
of  the  following  verse,  while  a  fragment  or  an  abbreviation  of  'emsd 
may  be  seen  in  'm  preceding  Id'.  (Similar  instances  of  abbreviation  as 
well  as  of  transposition  we  shall  find  in  30.  24.)  This  conclusion  is  the 
more  justified  as  Hm  W  cannot  possibly  be  assertive  particle,  as  it  is 

1  The  Hebrew  dictionaries,  instead  of  keeping  them  distinct,  have 
confounded  the  two  verbs. 

2  An  example  of  sha'al,  "request  of,"  with  ace,  pers.  is  found,  as  the 
parallelism  shows,  Is.  58.  2. 


226  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

generally  taken  to  be,  for  this  particle,  as  its  name  implies,  occurs  only 
in  asseverations  and  emphatic  predictions,  not  in  plain  statements 
of  facts.i 

2  I  pray  until  I  am  weary,  but  what  do  I  achieve.  Ato-cro/xai  Kafxvtav, 
Kal  TL  7roLT](T(D,'^  supplcments  Heb.  and  Gk.  v.  1  6  in  such  a  perfect 
manner,  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  its  being  the  original  con- 
tinuation. The  Hebrew  of  this  verse  (with  exclusion  of  'im  lo')  is, 
as  widely  granted,  altogether  obsciu-e,  the  translations  given  have 
merely  the  value  of  guesswork.  All  that  may  be  said  is  that  for 
hathulim  and  talan  the  text  originally  read,  in  all  probability,  some  deri- 
vatives from  Wa,  the  Nifal  of  which  is  used  Is.  16.  12  to  connote  hope- 
lessness of  prayer.  This  conclusion  is  further  borne  out  by  the  fact  that 
Sym.  read  for  hathulim  TrapaAeXoytcr/Aat  which  shows  that  he  must 
have  read  first  pers.  sing,  from  talal,  though  mistaking  it  for 
Hij%l}    The  following  retranslation  into  Hebrew  may  be  attempted  : 

ihvpvi  nn^  V^^pvi)  'r\\xS;  r\^^r\ 

This  reading  undoubtedly  supplies  the  correct  thought,  but  the  data 
are  insufficient  to  deduce  with  certainty  the  correct  wording  of  the 
thought. 

Gk.  3  a.  €K\i\pav  Se  fxov  Ta  vTrdpxovra  dXAorptot  is  another  interest- 
ing example  of  text  contamination  in  the  Greek.  There  is  nothing 
at  all  corresponding  to  this  text  in  the  Hebrew ;  for  it  can  neither 
be  taken  as  rendering  of  v.  3  a  nor  of  v.  5  a,  as  Dillmann  ^  and 
Beer  ^  take  it  to  be,  but,  /xov  excepted,  it  is  a  variant  of  Gk.  18.  7  a, 
6rjpev(TaL(Tav  ikdx'-o'roL  to.  virdp-^ovTa  avrov.  The  variant  was  added  in 
the  margin  whence  it  got  subsequently  in  the  text  here ;  /u,ov  was  added 
to  harmonize  it  with  its  new  surroundings.' 

1  Of.  e.g.  1.  11,  I  Ki.  20.  23,  Is.  5.  9,  which  are  all  cases  of  ellipsis,  the 
verb  ''swear"  governing  'im  lo'  being  omitted. 

2  That  TTotTycrw,  and  not  TroLr^aas  of  Codd.  B  S^  C  is  the  original  read- 
ing is  probable,  though  not  beyond  doubt ;  it  has  for  its  text-authorities, 
Codd.  A  S^  23  Prs.,  Aid.  Compl.,  and  is  further  attested  by  the  Syro- 
Hexaplar. 

3  Note  that  13.  9  hdthel  is  rendered  by  Aq.  with  TrapaXoyi^eadai. 

*  Note  that  11.8  ma-tif'al,  with  the  identical  meaning,  and  also  22.  17 
ma-jifal,  where  the  meaning  is  but  slightly  different,  are  rendered  by  Gk. 
TL  TTonqa-eis  and  ri  iroLri<T€i  respectively. 

^  Textkritisches  z.  Buche  Hiob,  p.  1355.  ^  Op.  cit. 

'  The  strange  reading  of  Gk.  18.  7  a  has  been  correctly  explained  by 
Beer.    The  translators  misread  je.s  eru:  jasudu,  and  reading  the  d  of  sa'dde 


NOTES  227 

XXX.  24  Oh,  that  I  might  lay  violent  hands  on  myself,  or  that  I  might 
beg  another  to  do  this  for  me.  There  is  the  most  radical  difference 
between  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  of  this  verse.  But  while  the  text 
of  the  Greek  is  perfectly  lucid,  and  moreover  excellently  transmitted 
(its  reading  is  practically  identical  in  all  Codd.  and  daughter-trans- 
lations, inclusive  of  Sahidic),  that  of  the  present  Hebrew  is  utterly 
corrupt  and  untranslatable.  The  customary  translation  of  the  verse, 
"  Howbeit  doth  not  one  stretch  out  the  hand  in  his  fall  ?  Or  in  his 
calamity  therefore  cry  for  help?  "  aside  from  the  fact  that  its  second 
part  makes  hardly  any  sense,  is  warranted  neither  by  the  rules  of 
grammar,  nor  by  the  meaning  of  some  of  the  words.  The  various 
emendations  proposed  are  far  afield ;  not  only  can  it  be  shown  that  the 
text  of  the  Greek  was  originally  read  also  by  the  Hebrew,  but  in  this 
verse,  unlike  17.  2,  we  have  the  necessary  working  basis  for  restoring 
the  original  wording  pretty  exactly.  In  v.  24  a  be'l  is  abbreviation 
of  be'asmi.  Proof  of  this  is  furnished  first  by  the  fact  that,  instead  of 
legarmeh,  as  in  the  editions  of  Targ.  II,  the  MS.  reading  is  legamrl, 
which  is  clearly  a  mistake  (by  transposition  of  m  and  r)  for  legarml, 
"  on  myself  "  ;  further,  by  the  reading  of  'all  for  be'l  of  the  Syr.,  which 
at  the  same  time  bears  out  my  explanation  of  the  MS.  reading  of  Targ. 
These  readings  of  Targ.  and  Syr.  are  the  more  valid,  as  v.  24  in  both 
versions  clearly  rests,  not  on  the  Greek,  but  on  the  disintegrated  He- 
brew text.  Also  in  iv  la-xvt  {  =  be'osem)  of  Sym,  proof  may  be  seen  of 
the  original  reading  be'asml,  as  far  as  the  consonants  of  the  word  are 
concerned.  From  be'asml  it  follows  that  instead  of  jishlah,  the  origi- 
nal text  must  have  read  'eshlah.  The  change  from  the  first  to  the  third 
person  is  to  be  attributed  not  so  much  to  dogmatic  reasons  as  to  har- 
monization of  the  verse  with  the  surrounding  verses  among  which  it  got 
by  mistake.  Finally  Id'  is  mistaken  vocalization  for  original  Zw, written 
with  'alef.^  In  v.  24  b  i^"^^  is  abbreviation  of  'r\};w ;  direct  proof  of 
this  is  to  be  seen  in  ge'ith,  "  I  cry,"  of  Syr.  Further,  Hm  is  mistake  for 
original  'o,  and  befldo  is  mistaken  reading  for  original  befl  lu,  due,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  wrong  word-division,  and  on  the  other  to  S  being  mis- 
taken for  "1.  Finally,  omit  lahen,  and  read  after  shiwwa'tl :  —  we'aher 
ja'dsenna  li.    The  verse  as  a  whole  reads : 

as  r,  they  mistook  the  word  as  abbreviation  of  sS'inm',    'on  they  took 
as  meaning  "wealth." 

1  There  are  quite  a  number  of  cases  of  lu  being  spelt  with  'alef,  which 
have  been  similarly  misread:  of.  Job  9.  33,  23.  6,  Gen.  23.  11,  Judg.  21, 
22,  I  Sam.  13.  13,  20.  14  (twice). 


228  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

XVII.  13.     Verily  I  have  to  look,     'im  is  emphatic  particle. 

15  happiness  for  me.  The  second  tiqwathl  is  dittography,  for  which, 
in  accordance  with  Gk.,  ^T^2^D  is  to  be  read  (Beer  and  others). 
Additional  proof  of  this  reading  may  be  seen  in  the  third  plural  of  the 
verb  of  the  following  sentence. 

16  When  together  we  sink  into  the  grave.  Vocalize,  in  accordance 
with  Gk.,  >"*nj  (Graetz  and  others) ;  as  the  word  reads  at  present  the 
half  verse  is  mi  translatable.  As  stated  before,  'afar  is  ellipsis  for 
^dfar  maweth  (cf.  7.  21),  and  was,  in  fact,  so  understood  by  Gk. 

XVIII 

Synopsis.  —  Bildad  expresses  the  personal  resentment  the 
friends  feel  at  Job's  accusation  that  their  minds  are  closed  to 
understanding.    He  asks  at  the  outset  of  his  speech  : 

"  Why  are  we  counted  as  brutes, 
Why  are  we  stupid  in  thine  eyes  ?  " 

Then  he  gives  vent  to  the  wrath  which  fills  him  because  of  Job's 
bold  language  in  general,  his  blasphemous  attempt  to  make 
himself  out  the  innocent  victim  of  God's  cruel  attack.  He  is 
plainly  incensed. 

"Thou  who  rendest  thyself  in  thy  rage," 

Bildad  asks  cuttingly, 

"  Shall  the  earth  be  made  desolate  because  of  thy  outcry, 
Or  the  mountain  be  removed  from  its  place?" 

By  "thy  outcry"  he  unfeelingly  refers  to  Job's  prayer,  "Let 
the  earth  not  cover  my  blood,  Let  there  be  no  place  for  my  out- 

1  shalahjad  he,  meaning  "to  kill"  a  person,  occurs  among  other  examples 
Gen.  37.  22,  I  Sam.  24.  10,  26.  9.  In  all  three  examples  this  meaning 
follows  clearly  from  the  context;  the  usual  translation,  however,  "to 
stretch  out,"  or  "to  put  forth  one's  hand  against,"  fails  to  make  this  mean- 
ing clear.  In  regard  to  befl,  adding  emphasis  to  the  word,  cf.  19.  16  and 
Ps.  66.  17. 


NOTES  229 

cry."  He  implies  that  if  Job's  petition  were  to  be  granted, 
k  would  be  equivalent  to  overthrowing  the  system  according 
to  which  God  rules  the  universe,  the  system  of  retributive  jus- 
tice. For  Bildad  Job  is  suffering  the  consequences  of  his  sin, 
the  proof  of  his  sin  being  the  fact  of  his  suffering.  In  the  de- 
tailed picture  of  the  disaster  awaiting  the  wicked  with  which 
he  follows  up  his  question  to  Job  in  v.  4,  it  is  obvious  that  he 
has  Job's  visitation  in  mind. 

XVIII.  2  How  long  wilt  thou  be  out  for  rhetorical  effect?  seems 
to  me  to  express  the  figure  employed  in  the  half  verse  :  note  that  Arab. 
qanasa  means  not  only  "  to  entrap,"  but  also  "  to  hunt,"  "  to  chase." 
In  accordance  with  Gk.,  read  in  2  a,  taslm,  and  in  2  b,  tabln,  second 
sing.,  instead  of  second  plur.  of  Heb.  The  Aram,  plural  ending  of 
millln  is  the  mistake  of  a  copyist. 

3  Why  are  we  stupid  in  thine  eyes?  nitmlnu,  as  the  dictionaries  and 
others  rightly  take  it,  is  derived  from  tama,  a  by-form  of  'atam;  in- 
stead of  the  plural  suffix  kern  of  'em,  read  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  Syr., 
the  singular  suffix  ka. 

4  Thou  who  rendest  thyself  in  thy  rage.  The  suffixes  of  the  third 
sing,  of  the  relative  clause  tor ef  etc.,  the  antecedent  of  which  is  ka  of  the 
following  phrase,  are  contrary  to  all  rule ;  the  original  text  must  have 
read  the  suffix  of  the  second  sing. :  13^3  -p^^,  which  was,  in  fact,  the 
reading  of  both  Gk.  and  Vulg.  nafsheka  is  not  omitted  in  Gk.,  as 
Beer  thinks,^  but,  being  reflexive  pronoun,  was  correctly  rendered  crot 
[  o-e  ^2,  Compl] ;  further,  ul  place  of  the  present  nominative,  Gk. 
originally  read  the  instrumental  opyrj,  as  is  shown  by  Prs.  137,  138, 
hen  wolnt  of  Boh.  and  berugza  of  S^ :  from  this  it  follows  that  not 
KixprjTai,  but  KexprjcraL  of  Prs.  254  and  Alex,  is  the  original  reading. 
The  reading  of  Gk.  as  ascertained  is  borne  out  also  by  Vulg.,  Qui 
perdis  animam  tuam  in  furore  tuo.  The  relative  clause  toref  etc.  is 
purposely  placed  before  its  antecedent,  at  the  head  of  the  sentence, 
in  order  to  give  prominence  to  the  point  made.  Bildad  wishes  to  make 
Job  understand  that  it  is  not  God  that  has  attacked  him  "  in  unrelenting 
rage,"  but  that  it  is  his  own  fury  that  is  consuming  him.  Because 
of  thy  outcry.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Ms.  Ken.  153,  ^^^X^-  l^^^^ ) 
this  reading  is  so  superior  to  that  of  the  present  text  that  it  must  be 

1  Text  des  Buches  Hiob. 


230  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

considered  the  original.  It  is  a  plain  reference  to  Job's  agonized  out- 
er}^, "  Let  the  earth  not  cover  my  blood,  let  there  be  no  place  for  my 
outcry,"  and  portraj^s  the  unfeeling  fanaticism  of  Bildad  better  than 
anything  else  could.  The  variant  read  by  Gk.,  eav  av  dTro6dv7j<:  = 
halema'an  mutheka,  is  equally  expressive. 

6  And  his  lamp  radiating  around  his  head,  'alaw  is  used  equivalently 
to  'die  ro'sh  in  29.  3,  the  same  notion  being  referred  to  as  in  the  latter 
verse. 

7  His  firm  steps  will  be  hindered.  The  idiom,  without  the  quali- 
fying phrase  ^oiio,  occurs  again  Prov.  4.  12. 

8  He  will  rush  headlong  seems  to  me  the  meaning  of  the  doubt- 
less idiomatic  expression  shullah  heraglaw ;  cf .  the  related  expression 
Prov.  19.  2,  'as  beraglajim,  meaning  "  he  who  acts  with  precipi- 
tation." 

12  Evil  threatens  him.  The  customary  rendering  of  12  a,  "  His 
strength  shall  be  hunger-bitten,"  has  rightly  been  objected  to  by  a 
number  of  scholars,  for  the  reason  that  ra'ab  does  not  mean  "  hunger- 
bitten."  However,  the  interpretation  proposed  by  these  scholars 
instead,  "  Misery  shall  be  hungry — i.e.  ravenous — for  him,"  is  equally 
untenable,  since  ra'eb,  "  to  be  hungry  for,"  would  require  an  indirect 
object ;  aside  from  this,  the  parallelism  would  still  be  far  from  perfect. 
From  the  parallelism  it  may  be  conjectured  that  instead  of  jehi  ra'eb 
the  text  originally  read  ^iip  or  i<in.p.  The  suffix  of  'ono  has  the  force 
of  an  objective  genitive.  It  should  be  added  that,  with  exception 
of  II  Ki.  2.  10,  where  jehi  is  legitimately  used  in  the  apodosis  of  a 
conditional  sentence,  its  seeming  use  as  indicative  is  invariably  a  case 
of  text  corruption. 1  Disaster  is  near  at  hand  to  ruin  him.  sela', 
meaning  "fall,"  ''ruin,"  or  "to  effect  (a  person's)  ruin,"  is  found 
again  Ps.  35.  15,  38.  18,  Jer.  20.  10. 

13  Disease  will  consume  his  skin,  badde  'oro  can  neither  be  trans- 
lated "  the  pieces  of  his  skin,"  nor  "  the  members  of  his  body,"  since 
bad  does  not  mean  "  piece,"  nor  'or,  "  body  " ;  badde  is  evidently  mis- 
taken reading  due  to  dittography  of  badaw  of  the  second  clause.  On  the 
strength  of  bidewaj  of  Ms.  Ken.  658  it  may  be  emended  to  read  '1"|. 
This  emendation,  to  my  mind,  makes  the  verse  better  balanced  than 
that  of  Wright  and  others,  je'dkel  bidewaj.  The  firstborn  of  death  or 
deadly  plagues  means  the  most  dreaded  of  deadly  diseases,  that  is 
leprosy,  the  workings  of  which  are  clearly  described  in  the  verse ;    cf. 

1  Cf.  Job  20.  23,  24.  14,  Ezek.  16.  15.  In  Gen.  49.  17  Samar.  reads 
jihjoe. 


NOTES  231 

Is.  14.  30  "  the  firstborn  (bekore)  of  the  poor,"  meaning  the  poorest 
The  verse  shows  conclusively  that  Bildad  in  his  description  of  the  end 
awaiting  the  sinners  takes  Job's  affliction  for  his  model.     Siegfried's 
emendation  of  the  text  on  the  ground  of  the  mistaken  rendering  of 
bekor  by  Gk.  is  unwarranted. 

14  in  which  he  placed  his  trust :  mibtaho  is  a  nice  case  of  an  apposi- 
tive.  By  the  king  of  terrors  death  is  meant ;  the  expression,  which  is 
very  likely  to  be  classed  as  a  stock  phrase,  may  be  traced  to  mythologi- 
cal notions. 

15  Lilith  will  inhabit  his  tent.  On  the  strength  of  Is.  34.  14,  Beer-K. 
convincingly  emended  mibbli-lo  to    r\'h'b  ;    cf .  the  remarks  on  15.  28. 

17  in  the  land.  Note  that  the  plur.  husoth  is  used  Prov.  8.  26  as 
synonymous  with  'eres,  and  that  in  Job  5.  10  it  connotes  "  fields." 

19  No  offspring  or  progeny  will  be  left  him  among  his  tribe,  nin 
weneked  is  an  alliteration,  similar  to  Eng.  kith  and  kin. 

20  his  end  seems  to  me  the  more  accurate  rendering  for  the  frequent 
use  of  jomo  to  denote  a  person's  hour  of  death  (cf .  e.g.  I  Sam.  26.  10, 
Ezek.  21.  30,  Ps.  37.  13) ;  compare  the  somewhat  similar  Eng.  expres- 
sion in  "  his  hour  has  come."  And  his  contemporaries ;  the  somewhat 
inaccurate  use  of  qadmonlm  to  signify  "  contemporaries  "  is  to  be  ex- 
plained by  ^aharomm  in  the  first  clause. 

21  this  will  be  the  end  .  .  .  this  will  befall.  The  antecedent  of 
^elloe  and  zee  is  the  contents  of  the  preceding  description  of  the  fate 
awaiting  the  wicked. 

Ch.  XIX  AND  ITS  Constituent  Parts  from  Ch.  XXX 

Synopsis.  —  The  question  with  which  Job  begins, 

"  How  long  will  ye  torment  my  soul, 
And  crush  me  with  your  words?" 

shows  how  he  has  been  cut  to  the  quick  by  Zophar's  venomous 
speech.  He  is  weighed  down  by  the  sense  of  his  isolation  and 
of  the  stigma  put  upon  him  by  his  visitation.  His  heart  craves 
a  friendly  word,  or  other  mark  of  sympathy,  from  those  who 
were  once  his  friends ;  but  even  his  wife  turns  with  loathing 
Troin  him,  and  his  kinsmen  and  former  intimates  show  abhor- 
rence to  him : 


232  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

"  My  relatives  have  failed  me, 

And  my  familiar  friends  have  forgotten  me. 

My  breath  is  disgusting  to  my  wife, 

And  1  am  loathsome  to  my  kinsmen. 

My  intimate  friends  abhor  me. 

Those  I  have  loved  have  turned  against  me." 

Far  from  making  him  bitter  and  resentful,  however,  his  cruel 
isolation  has  a  softening  effect  on  him.  His  suffering  serves  to 
bring  out  his  nobility  of  character,  above  all  his  unconquerable 
faith.  Note  the  tenderness  of  the  words,  "Those  I  have  loved 
have  turned  against  me,"  and  the  marked  change  in  tone 
throughout  the  speech.  The  attitude  of  mental  superiority  and 
the  biting  sarcasm,  so  noticeable  in  the  preceding  speech,  have 
given  way  to  a  pathetic  pleading  with  his  friends  for  sympathy : 

"  Have  pity,  have  pity  on  me,  O  my  friends. 

For  the  hand  of  God  hath  struck  me ! 

Why  do  ye  persecute  me  like  God  ? 

Why  can  ye  not  get  enough  of  feasting  on  my  body?" 

And  though  he  fails  to  excite  the  compassion  of  his  friends,  or  to 
arouse  any  sympathetic  understanding  in  those  around  him,  he  is 
more  than  ever  sure  that  he  is  right,  and  that  they  are  wrong. 
He  is  confident,  moreover,  that  the  day  will  come  when  men 
will  have  a  larger  spiritual  vision,  and  will  be  able  to  judge  his 
case  truly.     To  this  end  let  his  words  be  preserved  forever. 

But  his  faith  wins  a  still  greater  triumph  over  the  fate  that 
is  crushing  him.  We  have  followed,  step  by  step,  Job's  ever 
growing  conviction  that  his  clear  conscience  is  his  sure  claim 
on  Gfxl,  and  that  notwithstanding  his  afflictions,  he  is  nearer 
to  God  than  ever.  This  assurance  now  reaches  a  climax,  as  it 
were,  and  in  an  exultant  burst  of  faith  he  declares  that  in  the 
end  God  himself  will  appear  to  champion  his  cause  before  the 
world. 


NOTES  233 

"  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 

That  at  last  He  will  appear  on  earth. 

Even  after  my  skin  hath  been  torn  from  my  flesh, 

Still  I  will  cherish  the  hope  that  I  shall  see  God ; 

The  heart  in  my  bosom  pineth 

That  I  may  see  Him,  a  champion  in  my  behalf, 

That  mine  eyes  may  see  Him,  and  not  as  an  enemy.'* 

He  follows  up  this  triumphant  declaration  with  a  warning  to 
the  friends,  that  if  they  persist  in  their  heartless  attitude  and 
unjust  suspicions  they  shall  have  cause  to  fear  God's  wrath 
when  He  appears.  The  verses  are  a  parallel  to  13.9-11,  and 
6.  29. 

XIX.  5  But  if  ye  mean  to  disdain  me  in  your  selfrighteousness. 

*alaj  tagtilu  expresses  that  the  friends  consider  themselves  morally 
superior  to  Job,  and  look  down  upon  him  as  a  sinner. 

8,  9.     cf.  the  remarks  to  3.  23. 

10  I  must  depart :  cf .  the  remark  on  14.  20. 

11.  The  verse  is  a  parallel  to  30. 21,  and  reads  like  a  prose  version  of 
it  by  a  reader  or  a  later  editor.  This  is  further  confirmed  by  the  close 
resemblance  —  almost  identity  —  of  116  with  13.  24  6,  and  of  11a, 
in  the  reading  of  Gk.,  Setvtu?  8e  /xot  opyrj  i^rjo-aro,  with  16.  9  aa. 

12,  XXX.  12-14.  It  may  be  noticed  almost  at  a  glance  that  30.  12  c, 
And  erect  their  sinister  ramparts  against  me,  must  be  a  variant  of 
19.  12  h,  And  erect  their  ramparts  against  me,  and  being  the  more  poetic 
expression  of  the  two,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  30.  12  c  is  the  original 
reading.  The  occurrence  of  the  half  verse  both  here  and  in  30.  12  is 
to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  when  the  latter  and  the  verses  follow- 
ing it  were  omitted  from  their  original  place  after  19.  12,  they  were 
put  in  an  available  blank  space  of  the  manuscript,  with  the  half  verse 
repeated  as  a  cue.  Further  evidence  that  the  original  place  of  these 
verses  was  in  ch.  19  may  be  seen  in  Gk.  30.  13  6  e^eSvo-ei/ ^  yap 
fxov  rr]v  aroXrjv,  which  is  a  variant  of  19.  9a;  it  was  originally 
written  in  the  margin  of  ch.  19,  whence,  together  with  the  other 
verses  omitted  from  that  chapter,  it  got  in  ch.  30.  In  explanation  of 
the  change  hotav  to  (rroXrjv  in  the  variant,   it   may   be   mentioned 

1  As  Codd.  S  /3  16  Prs.  Sah.  S^  Vet.  Lat.  Hie.  Aid.  and  Compl.  read 
correctly  for  i^ibvixav  of  Codd.  A  B  and  Boh. 


234  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

that  the  stola,  even  as  the  turban  up  to  this  day,  was  worn  only  by 
people  enjoying  social  caste,  and  hence  was  a  badge  of  distinction. 
As  to  30.  13  a,  nathesu  is  undoubtedly  a  corruption  of  nathesu  caused 
by  dittography  oi  jittesenl  of  19.  10,  while  nethibathi,  for  which  the  ver- 
sions without  exception  read  plural,  either  is  dittography  of  the  same 
word  of  19.  8,  or,  since  Greek  read  instead  of  nethibothaj  of  the  latter 
verse  panaj,  it  may  primarily  have  been  marginal  correction  for  this 
mistaken  reading.  30.  13  c,  which  was  not  read  by  Gk.,  and  is  missing 
also  in  Ms.  Ken.  30,  is  a  variant  of  29.  12  b,  as  has  already  been  ob- 
served by  Voigt  and  Beer  (see  remarks  to  29.  12).  Finally  as  to  30. 
12  b,  shillehu  is  dittography  of  the  same  word  of  the  preceding  v.  11, 
while  in  raglaj  a  fragment  may  be  seen  of  pedes  meos  vinxerunt  compedi- 
bus,  read  here  by  Vet.  Lat.  The  clause,  the  close  resemblance  of  which 
to  13.  27  a  will  be  noticed  at  once,  presents  no  doubt  a  parallel  case  to 
19.  11 :  originally  it  was  probably  added  as  a  marginal  comment  to 
19.  8  a,  suggested  by  13.  27  a,  just  as  19.  11  6  was  copied  after  13.  24  b ; 
from  the  margin  of  ch.  19  it  got,  with  the  other  verses  from  this  chap- 
ter, in  ch.  30. 

XXX.  12  At  my  right  they  rise  in  swarms.  Read,  in  accordance 
with  25  Mss.  pirha,  feminine ;  the  reading  pirhah  of  some  of  the  edi- 
tions is  etymologically  excluded ;  such  a  formation  (reduplication  of  a 
final  hcth)  would  be  without  a  parallel.  The  masc.  plural  of  jaqumu, 
following  pirha  directly,  precludes  that  pirha  should  be  its  subject ; 
pirha  can  only  be  adverbial  accusative. 

13  b  to  effect  my  ruin  is  a  circumstantial  clause,  dependent  on  v.  12  c. 

14  amidst  crash  and  ruin  accurately  expresses  tahath  sho'a,  and  they 
sweep  in,  wave  upon  wave,  hithgalgalu.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  re- 
mark that  30.  12-14  when  taken  as  a  part  of  Job's  figurative  description, 
19.  12,  of  God's  assault  on  him,  are  enhanced  beyond  measure. 

XXX.  20  I  stand  before  Thee.  Construe  'eloeka,  which  is  a  case  of 
brachylogy,  also  with  'amadtl,  and  cf.  II  Ki.  5.  25,  Ezek.  21.  26.  Thou 
regardest  me  not.  In  accordance  with  Vulg.,  et  non  respiciis,  and  de 
Rossi  Ms.  593,  read  .nn  xSi,  as  a  number  of  scholars  have  rightly 
emended. 

15  b-c  My  hope  hath  flown  away  like  the  wind.  That  tirdof  cannot 
be  original  text  is  widely  acknowledged,  but  the  emendations  proposed 
are  far  afield.  From  Gk.,  <}x^'''°^  rendered  by  Sah.,  a  .  .  .  hoi,  "  has 
flown  away,"  it  may  be  concluded  that,  instead  of  tirdof,  the  text 
originally  read  ^^J^^  —  a  reading  the  fitness  of  which  is  self-evident ; 
cf.  the  similar  example  Is.  CO,  8,  "  Who  are  these  that  fly  {te'ujaina) 
like  a  cloud  "  ;  besides,  by  this  reading  the  parallelism  is  perfect.    In 


NOTES  235 

further  support  of  my  conclusion  from  a^x^To  note  the  Homeric 
phrase  <^x'^''''  aTroTTTa/xei/o?,  "  He  has  taken  flight  and  gone,"  mean- 
ing he  disappeared  swiftly  (II.  2.  71)  and  oixqraL  cfyevycDv  (Od.  8.  356) 
expressing  the  same.  At  the  inference  of  Siegfried  and  Beer-K.  that 
wx^'^o  points  to  the  reading  terddef,  one  cannot  but  express  surprise. 

15  a  Overwhelmed  by  terrors.  This  meaning  of  hohpak  'alaj  etc., 
is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  Dan.  10.  16  nehephku  a'laj  siraj  is  used 
with  practically  the  same  meaning  (cf .  "  and  I  have  no  strength  left  " 
following  it).  Though  in  the  latter  example  siraj  is  construed  with  the 
plural  of  the  verb,  the  construction  here  of  ballahoth  with  the  singular 
of  the  passive  is  perfect  grammar.  It  is  possible  that  the  reading 
hoppakh  is  due  to  dittogi'aphy  of  h,  and  that  the  original  text  read 
hohpak,  passive  Qal,  but  since  the  Af'al  is  found  of  Aramaic  hepak,  it 
is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  positive  conclusion  on  this  point.  It  is  self- 
evident  that  V.  15  a  cannot  originally  have  formed  a  part  of  v.  15  b-c, 
but  must  have  belonged  to  v.  16. 

16  my  soul  must  succumb.  Omit,  in  accordance  with  Syr.,' alaj ; 
also  'atta  is  to  be  omitted,  as  already  suggested  by  Grimme,  and  we 
is  to  be  joined  to  the  verb,  reading  wattishtappek.  With  the  meaning 
of  V.  16  a  compare  the  similar  meaning  of  hishtappek  nafsham,  "  they 
expire,"  Lam.  2.  12. 

27, 17  b.  Verse  27  6  is  a  variant  of  v.  166,  and  may  be  considered  as 
external  evidence  that  v.  27  a  followed  originally  v.  16.  When  omitted 
after  the  latter  verse,  v.  27  a  was  put  in  the  margin,  with  v.  16  b  re- 
peated as  a  cue :  jo'hdzuni  was  subsequently  changed  to  qidmunl. 
V.  17  6  forms  with  27  a  a  perfect  couplet ;  there  is  besides,  as  we  shall 
see  presently,  external  proof  that  it  followed  the  latter  immediately. 

30, 17  a.  Verse  30  a  is  incomplete.  The  customary  translation  shows 
the  right  feeling  on  the  point,  and  supplies  the  missing  word,  "  My  skin 
is  black,  andfalleth  from  me."  It  should,  however,  be  understood  that 
the  Hebrew,  as  it  stands  at  present,  does  not  warrant  such  a  translation, 
since  we  have  not  here  a  case  of  ellipsis.  Originally  me'alaj  was  fol- 
lowed by  "^p.J.  found  at  present  in  v.  17  a.  The  word  was  omitted  from 
V.  30,  prior  to  the  omission  of  the  verse  from  its  original  place  after  v. 
17  6;  it  was  put  in  the  margin  right  in  front  of  the  verse,  with  the  fol- 
lowing word  {w)'asamaj  ^  as  a  cue,  and  from  the  margin  both  were  later 
taken  to  17  6.  me'alai  in  v.  17  a,  which  was  read  neither  by  Gk.  nor 
Vulg.,  is  a  subsequent  addition,  as  is  also,  as  various  scholars  have 

1  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  that  when  meaning  body  either  the 
singular  or  the  plural  of  'esem  may  be  used. 


236  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

pointed  out,  lajla,  the  addition  of  which  was  suggested  by  the  verb  of 
17  b.  Blackened,  my  skin  falleth  from  me.  In  the  Hebrew,  niqqar 
me'alaj  depends  as  a  circumstantial  clause  on  shahar. 

XIX.  20.  The  verse,  which  in  its  present  place  interrupts  the  thought, 
fits  in  well  after  30.  30.  My  bones  stick  through  my  skin.  Omit 
ubibesarl  as  a  later  addition,  as  Budde  and  others  have  pointed  out 
(for  parallels  of  this  stock  phrase  see  p.  17) ;  the  word  was  probably 
added  as  a  gloss  from  Ps.  102.  6.  German  scholars  unfamiliar  with 
the  fact  that  I  have  escaped  by  or  with  the  skin  of  my  teeth  has  in 
English  become  proverbial  for  "  I  have  barely  escaped  "  have  found 
this  expression  meaningless,  and  have  unwarrantedly  emended  the  text. 

XXX.  28  a  I  walk  about  in  gloom  is  an  incomplete  half  verse.  The 
meaningless  phrase,  "  without  sun,"  is  all  that  is  left  of  the  rest  of  the 
verse,  any  emendation  of  it  must  under  the  circumstances  be  con- 
sidered futile.  Sym.  aOvfxwv  Vulg.  sine  furore  rest  on  the  vocaliza- 
tion hema.  Gk.  avev  <^t/xov  is  not  mistake  for  a.  Ovfiov  as  generally 
thought,  and  as  Compl.  wTongly  corrected,  but  t^t/xov  is  mistake  for 
(fufxovv  still  recognizable  in  the  corrupt  ^77/xow  of  Prs.  55.  Proof 
of  this  is  Sah.  eyi  (Cod.  IC  a^n)  karoi,  "  without  silence,"  Boh.  ntiko 
nroi  an,  "  I  am  not  silent,"  and  Vet.  Lat.  sine  silentio ;  it  is  rendering  of 
welo'dammu  of  the  preceding  v.  27  a,  which  but  for  this  is  missing  in 
the  Greek.  ^i}iovv  "  silence,"  pass.  "  be  silent,"  is  quite  common  in 
the  New  Test. ;  the  use  of  the  active  here  in  a  passive  or  middle  sense 
is  nothing  unusual  in  Hellenistic  Greek.  In  regard  to  v.  28  b  see  16. 18. 

XXX.  29,  31,  XIX.  13ff.  I  am  become  a  brother  to  jackals,  a  com- 
panion to  ostriches.  The  jackals  as  well  as  the  ostriches,  because  of  their 
weird  cries  and  dismal  howling,  are  a  common  Biblical  metaphor  of 
loneliness  and  utter  desolation.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  v.  31,  My  harp 
is  turned  to  mourning,  my  flute  to  lamentation,  forms  a  most  fitting 
continuation  of  v.  29 ;  it  really  supplements  the  figure  employed  in  the 
latter ;  cf .  Mic.  1.  8,  "  I  will  make  a  wailing  like  jackals,  a  lamentation 
like  ostriches,"  also  Is.  13.  21,  34.  13.  It  may  also  be  noted  that  Job's 
description,  19.  13ff.,  of  his  desertion  by  his  kin  and  friends  could  not 
be  more  fittingly  introduced  than  by  30.  29,  31. 

XIX.  13  My  brethren  hold  aloof.  Read,  in  accordarice  with  Ms.  Ken. 
30,  Gk.,  Aq.,  Sym.,  Syr.,  plural  of  the  verb,  hirhiqu  (Beer-K. 
and  others) ;  the  present  reading  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  third  plural 
was  written  without  a  final  vowel  letter,  which  the  Masorites  failed  to 
recognize.  The  particle  'ak  in  the  second  clause  has  emphatic  force  (cf . 
Deut.  16.  15) ;  the  Greek,  owing  to  mistaken  word-di\dsion  in  the 
Hebrew  copy,  read  'ak  and  zdru  as  one  word  —  a  reading  which,  as 


NOTES  237 

both  the  parallelism  and  the  preposition  min  show,  cannot  possibly 
be  considered  as  original.  Nor  is  there  any  other  ground  for  emend- 
ing 13  b. 

14  My  relatives  have  failed  me.  A  case  of  brachylogy ;  the  suffix  nl 
of  the  verb  of  the  second  clause  is  to  be  construed  also  with  hadelu. 

15  My  serfs.  The  gar  was  in  ancient  Israel  what  the  client  was  in 
Rome,  a  stranger  or  other  dependent  under  a  person's  protection,  and 
the  gUr  bajit  is  a  dependent  that  in  due  course  has  become  a  person's 
serf  (this  is  the  meaning  of  the  term  also  in  Exod.  3.  22). 

16  With  humble  words  seems  to  me  to  express  the  meaning  of  bemd 
fl,  for  which  we  have  no  exact  equivalent. 

17  I  am  loathsome,  hannothi  is  perf.  Qal  of  hanan,  meaning  "  to 
stink."  to  my  kinsmen.  As  explained  p.  24  bitni  is  used  elliptically 
for  beten  Hmmi. 

18  when  I  rise,  i.e.  in  defense.  They  insult  me.  It  is  the  preposi- 
tion be  that  gives  drabber  this  meaning ;  with  the  same  meaning  dabber 
be  is  used  Nu.  12.  1,  8,  Ps.  50.  20,  while  Nu.  21.  5,  7  it  means  "  re- 
proach." 

22  Why  can  ye  not  get  enough  of  feasting  on  my  body?  The  mean- 
ing of  this  half  verse  is  clearly  indicated  by  its  parallel  31.  31  6,  yet 
both  half  verses  have  always  been  erroneously  translated  and  inter- 
preted. The  scholars  considered  mibbesarl  lo^  tisba'u  the  equivalent 
of  Arab.  *akala  lahmahu  'l-mar'i,  Aram,  'akal  qarsoM,  "  defame  "  or 
*'  malign  a  person,"  overlooking  the  essential  difference  between  'akal 
and  saba'.  In  Arabic  saba'a,  construed  either  with  min  or  the  accusa- 
tive, in  addition  to  •"  be  satiated,"  "  sated,"  or  "  satisfied  with,"  means 
figuratively  "  to  be  satiated  to  loathing  with  a  thing,"  "  to  get  enough 
of,"  or  "  to  have  one's  fill  of."  ^  It  is  with  this  meaning  that  saba'  min 
is  used  both  here  and  31.  31  b,  "  O,  that  we  might  have  the  opportunity 
to  feast  without  stint  on  his  body."  In  further  support  of  tliis  mean- 
ing of  the  two  half  verses  note  Eccl.  6.  3  lo^  tisba^  min  hattoba,  "  he  will 
not  have  his  fill  of  happiness,"  4.  8  gam  'enaw  lo'  tisba'  'osher  (ace.) 
"  nor  can  his  eyes  feast  enough  on  wealth,"  and  5.  9  ("  He  who  loves 
money  ")  /o'  tisba'  kesef,  "  cannot  get  enough  of  money." 

23  Oh  let  my  words  be  written  down  etc.  As  Deut.  5.  26,  Ps.  147,  ml 
jitien  expresses  a  wish,  but  not  a  wish  past  realization.  The  repetition 
of  mijitten  is  an  effective  instance  of  paronomasia,  and  millaj,  being  a 
case  of  brachylogy,  is  to  be  construed  also  with  23  b  and  the  following 
verse.    Beer's  emendation  of  v.  23  mars  the  beauty  of  it. 

1  See  the  Arabic  Lexica  of  Freytag  and  Lane. 


238  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

25-27.  In  the  entire  book  of  Job,  there  is  no  other  group  of  verses 
about  the  interpretation  of  which  there  is  such  diversity  of  opinion  as 
about  w.  25-27.  All  sorts  of  emendations  have  been  proposed.  Yet 
these  verses  require  no  emendation,  being  perfect  both  in  thought 
and  grammatical  structure.  This  astonishing  fact  is  psychologically 
interesting ;  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  confusion  is  due,  not  to  the 
inherent  difficulties  of  the  verses,  but  to  the  bias  with  which  they  have 
been  approached. 

25  My  Redeemer,  go^el,  "  protector,"  "  redeemer,"  is  such  a  common 
term,  as  applied  to  God,  in  the  Old  Test.,  that  no  comment  is  necessary. 
'ahdron  is  adverbial  case  (Hal)  meaning  last  or  at  last  (cf.  II  Sam.  19. 
12  f.).   on  earth :  this  is  plainly  the  meanmg  of  'al  'afar  also  m  41.  25. 

26  Even  after  my  skin  hath  been  torn  from  my  flesh,  i.e.,  when  his 
illness  has  reached  the  very  last  stage.  Other  cases  of  the  use  of  'ahar  as 
conjunction  are  42.  7,  Lev.  14.  43,  Jer.  41.  16.  The  plural  of  niqqefu, 
referring  to  the  ravages  of  his  disease,  finds  its  explanation  in  the  meta- 
phor Job  used  in  w.  12,  30.  12-14.  zo'th  is  a  case  of  the  so-called 
inter jectional  use  of  the  demonstrative,  which  the  grammarians  and 
exegetes  have  here  as  well  as  in  a  number  of  other  cases  failed  to  recog- 
nize, and  either  unwarrantedlv  emended  or  wrongly  interpreted. 
Such  other  cases  are  Lev.  26.  44,i  Ezek.  20.  27,  36.  37.^  The  function 
of  zo'th  in  these  examples  and  our  verse  of  Job  belongs  in  one  and  the 
same  category  with  that  of  zoe  and  zoHh  in  the  following  examples : 
Gen.  31.  41,  Exod.  32.  1,  Nu.  13.  17,  Josh.  9.  12,  IKi.  17.  24,  II  Ki.  6. 
33,  Is.  21.  9,  Ps.  56.  10  (note  that,  as  in  the  case  of  'atta  zee,  1  Ki.  17. 

24,  Gk.  renders  zee  well  with  iBov),  104.  25,  Cant.  7.  8,  et  al.  Its 
use  in  all  the  examples  is  analogous  to  that  of  interjectional  hadha  in 
Arabic,  and  what  Noldeke  remarks  with  reference  to  the  latter  ^  may 
be  applied  to  z(b  and  zoHh  Exod.  32.  1,  Josh.  9. 12,  II  Ki.  6.  33,  Ps.  104. 

25,  Cant.  7.  8  et  al,  the  position  of  the  demonstrative  shows  that  in 
none  of  these  examples  can  it  be  attributive  to  the  substantive  fol- 
lowing it.     Even  .  .  .  still  is  an  attempt  to  express  the  force  of  the 

1  Emended  by  Driver,  SBOT.,  Baentsch,  Exodus,  Bertholet,  Exodus, 
and  also,  but  with  some  hesitation,  by  Ryssel  in  Kittel,  Bihlia  Hehraica. 

2  The  first  of  these  two  identical  examples  in  Ezekiel  has  inconsistently 
been  emended  by  Rothstein  in  Ivittel,  op.  cit.,  and  in  Kautzsch,  Die  Heilige 
Schrift  des  Alt.  Test.  3d  ed. 

3  Zur  Grammatik  des  Klassischen  Arahisch,  §  41,  pp.  48fif.  This  is  not 
the  place  for  the  discussion  of  interjectional  zrE  or  zoth,  the  point  has 
only  been  touched  upon,  as  far  as  absolutely  necessary  for  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  verse. 


NOTES  239 

interjectional  zoHh  here.  As  to  the  joining  of  mibhesari  by  u  to  the  rest 
of  the  clause  compare  the  similar  cases  II  Sam.  13.  20,  Is.  57.  11,  Am. 
4.  10 ;  the  function  of  the  conjunctive  particle  in  all  these  cases  is  to 
add  emphasis  to  the  prepositional  phrase.  Still  I  will  cherish  the  hope 
that  I  shall  see,  cf.  13.  15,  "  I  desire  to  justify,"  and  also  what  has  been 
remarked  in  regard  to  9.  14. 

27  My  heart  in  my  bosom  pineth  that  I  may  see  Him  etc.  The 
'as/ier-clauses  are  not  relative  sentences  but  objective  clauses,  depend- 
ent on  kalu;  they  are  put  in  dominant  position,  at  the  head  of  the 
sentence,  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  and  also  for  the  reason  that  the 
object  of  'eloha  of  the  preceding  verse  is  to  be  construed  also  with  them 
—  a  case  of  brachylogy  of  which  we  have  already  had  many  examples. 
With  the  meaning  and  construction  of  kalu  cf .  kaletha  nafshi  and  kalu 
'enaj  with  le  rei  as  objective,  "  My  soul  pineth  for,"  "  My  eyes  pine 
for,"  Ps.  84.  3,  119.  81f.,  123.  a  champion  in  my  behalf.  It  is  dativus 
commodi,  and  is  so  taken  by  the  prevailing  translation,  "  on  my  side ;  " 
uelo^  zdr,  and  not  as  an  enemy,  is  adverbial  accusative  (Hal),  expressing 
negatively  what  is  asserted  positively  by  It;  the  meaning  enemy  of 
zdr  is  so  common,  that  parallel  examples  need  not  be  cited.  The  per- 
fect rd^u  is  precative  perfect. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  accurate  grammatical  analysis  of  vv.  25-27 
leaves  room  for  one  interpretation  only,  that  as  in  the  parallel  passages 
16.  19-22,  17.  3,  and  31.  35-37,  6,  Job  gives  expression  to  his  ever- 
growing conviction  that  in  the  end  God  himself  will  appear  as  his 
vindicator,  and  as  the  parallel  passages  state  explicitly,  vouch  for  his 
innocence.  It  should  be  added  that  the  view  that  the  verses  express 
the  hope  in  immortality  or  resurrection  has  been  refuted  again  and 
again  in  modern  times  as  incompatible  with  the  text,  the  first  to  do  so 
being  Eichhorn  in  1787,^  also  that  it  has  no  basis  either  in  the  Greek 
version  or  in  the  S5T:'iac  and  Targum.  The  first  to  carry  this  mistaken 
interpretation  into  the  verses  was  Origines,  whose  interpretation, 
though  refuted  at  the  time  by  Chrysostomus  (who  pointed  to  14.  12ff. 
as  precluding  it),  was  later  adopted  by  Augustine  and  Jerome.  The 
latter  made  it  the  basis  for  his  translation  of  the  verse  in  the  Vulgata, 
whence  it  found  its  way  into  the  Lutheran  and  into  the  English  Bible.^ 

28  in  him.  Read,  in  accordance  with  many  Mss.,  Theod.,  Targ., 
Vulg.,"'^  —  a  generally  accepted  emendation. 

1  Biblische  lAtteratur,  I.  3  p.  367f. 

2  The  history  of  the  interpretation  of  these  verses  has  been  exhaustively 
treated  by  J.  Speer,  Zur  Exegese  von  Hiob  19.  25-27  in  ZAW.,  XXV  (1905), 
pp.  47ff. 


u 


240  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

29  the  sins  that  bring  down  the  sword.  Omit  hereh  in  29  b,  and 
insert  'awonoth  after  hereb  of  29  a  reading  3"in  mji;;  ^J3D;  'awo- 
noth  was  omitted,  and  together  with  hereb,  as  a  cue,  was  added  in  the 
margin,  whence  both  were  later  wrongly  joined  to  the  end  of  the  line. 
The  words  which  originally  followed  hema  are  missing  in  Hebrew,  but 
have  been  preserved  in  Gk.,  ^v/xos  yap  ctt'  dvo/xovs  iTrcXeva-eraL, 
the  Hebrew  of  which  is  i^"^^^  ^'^]}l,  ^}^  -n  O.  Further  proof  of  this 
reading  is  furnished  by  Targ.,  'arum  kideragez  'eldhd  'al  surhanutJm 
megare  qadolln  deharba,  "  For  when  God  is  wroth  because  of  sinfulness 
He  incites  wars,"  which  is  a  contamination  of  the  reading  of  Gk.  and 
the  present  Heb.  text.  Note  that  Targ.  correctly  understood  hema 
to  connote  "  Divine  wrath."  A  trace  of  this  reading  of  Gk.  and  Targ. 
is  found  also  in  Vulg.,  quoniam  ultor  iniquitatum  gladius  est.  Hereb 
is  a  qualificative  genitive,  as  e.g.  ^awon  qes,  '•'  guilt  bringing  about  the 
end,"  Ezek.  21.  30,  34,  35.  5.  By  "the  sword,"  the  sword  of  God  is 
meant;  cf.  Is.  31.  8,  34.  5-6,  27.  1,  Jer.  12.  12,  47.  6,  I  Cliron.  21.  12, 
30.  The  idea  of  the  sword  as  a  divine  symbol,  met  with  in  these  pas- 
sages, has  its  origin  in  primitive  religious  notions,  in  elucidation  of 
which  it  may  briefly  be  mentioned  that  in  Babylonian  literature,  e.g., 
the  sword  is  a  frequent  ideograph  of  Nergal,  the  god  of  war  and  pesti- 
lence .^  The  fact  that  the  sword  is  a  divine  symbol,  the  emblem  of  the 
deity,  explains  the  use  of  the  word  without  the  article  in  our  verse  and 
in  Is.  31.  8 :  in  both  cases  the  word  still  shows  its  original  character  as 
a  proper  name,  which  it  is  in  the  Babylonian-Assyi'ian  Nergal-hjmans. 
Wherefore  ye  will  know  that  there  is  a  Judge.  The  idea  of  29  c  is 
brought  out  well  by  Targ. :  "  Wherefore  ye  will  know  that  the  Supreme 
Judge  is  a  righteous  Judge."  One  cannot  help  wondering  whether  this 
rendering  rests  on  an  original,  more  complete  text,  or  if  the  Targumist 
simply  caught  the  spirit  of  the  words. 

XXX.  18.  This  verse  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  obscure.  Light 
is  thrown  on  v.  18  a  by  the  Greek,  which  read  cTreAajSero,  that 
is,  W2r\\  ioT  jithhappes.  This  reading  makes  the  half  verse  a  variant  of 
Gk.  30.  13,  which  in  its  turn  we  found  to  be  a  repetition  of  19.  13  a. 
This  original  reading  of  30.  18  a  lends  weight  to  the  fact  that  18  6  was 
not  read  in  the  original  Greek,  being  missing  in  Sah.  and  sub  *  in  S^ 
and  Alex. ;  it  is,  in  all  probability,  the  corrupt  Hebrew  of  another  of 
the  glosses  which  the  Greek  of  ch.  30  has  in  excess  of  the  Hebrew. 

XXX.  19.   The  customary  translation  of  19  a,  "  He  hath  cast  me  into 

1  See  M.  Jastrow,  Jr.,  Die  Religion  Babyloniens  und  Assyriens,  I,  pp.  65, 
461f.,  470f. 


NOTES  241 

the  mire/'  is  grammatically  impossible,  as  has  been  recognized  by  a 
number  of  scholars.  The  emendations  proposed  by  these  are,  however, 
not  acceptable.  The  original  reading  of  the  entire  verse  has,  but  for 
one  exception,  been  preserved  by  Gk.,  rjyrja-ai  8e  /ue  tW  vrjXw,  iv  yfj  Kai 
o-TToSo)  /nov  7}  fx€pL<; )  lustcad  of  rjyr)(jai  the  original  Gk.  read  riyqixat,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  aestimavi  me  of  Vet.  Lat.,  Hie.^-^  and  awkaat  ^ 
of  Sah.,  and  also  from  comparatus  sum  of  Vulg.  The  verse  formed 
originally  a  variant  of  42.  6  b,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  reading  of 
the  latter  in  Gk.,  yjyrjfiaL  Se  eyw  ifxavrov  yrjv  kol  (TttoSov. 

XXX.  23.  The  second  clause  "  To  the  house  appointed  to  all  living 
beings,"  formed  originally,  in  all  probability,  a  comment  to  10.  9, 
as  may  be  deduced  from  Gk.  oIkul  yap  Travrl  Ovyjtw  yrj.  About  v.  23  a 
nothing  positive  can  be  said  except  that  maweth  teshlbeni  does  not  seem 
to  be  the  original  reading;  the  phrase  cannot  mean  either  "  Thou  wilt 
bring  me  to  death,"  or  "  in  den  Tod  willst  du  mich  heimbringen," 
(note  that  10.  9  b  means,  like  its  parallel  Ps.  90.  3,  "  Thou  wilt  turn 
.  .  .  to  dust").  If  the  text  originally  read 'afar  for  maiye^/i,  the  phrase 
might  be  considered  a  repetition  of  10.  9  6 ;  if,  however,  Gk.,  Odvaros  fie 
iKTpLif/€L,  has  preserved  the  original  reading,  it  may  have  been  a  gloss 
to  30.  22  6. 

XXX.  25  belongs  to  ch.  31. 

XX 

Synopsis.  —  The  writer  could  not  have  better  characterized 
the  friends'  lack  of  understanding  of  the  spiritual  conflict  going 
on  in  Job's  mind  than  by  the  two  opening  verses  of  Zophar's 
speech.  The  exultant  burst  of  faith  in  the  conclusion  of  Job's 
previous  speech  had  no  efTect  on  Zophar  except  to  stir  up  his 
impatience  and  make  him  feel  righteously  indignant.  His  entire 
speech  is  taken  up  with  a  picture  of  the  wicked  man  who  in  the 
prime  of  life,  at  the  height  of  his  power,  is  suddenly  overtaken 
by  disaster  —  a  picture  which  is  even  more  openly  descriptive 
of  Job  and  his  afilictions  than  was  the  earlier  picture  drawn 
by  Bildad.  Zophar's  references  throughout  are  both  pointed 
and  malicious ;   he  uses  practically  the  same  words  as  Job  did, 

1  The  third  plur.  passive  with   objective  suffix  serves  as  paraphrastic 
passive  in  Coptic ;  see  Steindorff,  Koptische  Grammatik,  2d  ed.,  §  373. 


242  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

when  reminiscing  about  his  former  prosperity  (29.  6),  to  show 
that  his  prosperity  is  gone  forever,  and  employs  the  same 
figure  that  Job  used  in  16.  13,  to  express  that  he  will  be  fatally 
stricken : 

"  He  will  not  look  upon  the  herds  grazing  in  the  valley, 
Nor  upon  the  flowing  streams  of  honey  and  cream. 

The  missile  will  penetrate  his  back, 
The  glittering  sword  will  enter  his  gall." 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  in  this  speech  how  Zophar  inter- 
weaves with  his  description  certain  insinuations  against  Job's 
character  which  serve  to  prepare  the  mind  for  the  baseless 
charges  which  Eliphaz,  in  his  next  speech,  brings  forward 
against  Job : 

"  Because  he  has  ground  down  the  poor  with  toil,  and  then  cast 

them  aside. 
He  has  stolen  houses,  instead  of  building  them  himself."     (v. 

19.) 
Having  so  persistently  harbored  false  suspicions  of  Job,  the 
friends  are  now  at  the  point  where  they  are  ready  to  take  their 
suspicions  for  actual  facts. 

XX.  2,  3.  The  two  verses  as  at  present  arranged  convey  no  intelligent 
meaning,  no  matter  whether  of  v.  2  a  the  reading  of  the  Hebrew  or  that 
of  the  Greek  is  accepted.  If,  however,  v.  3  6  is  read  after  2  a,  and  2  b 
after  3  a,  the  verses  make  perfect  sense ;  this  was  doubtless  the  original 
order.  My  own  reason  telleth  me  otherwise,  my  common  sense  giveth 
me  a  different  answer.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  p  J^*?  instead 
of  pS,  as  a  number  of  scholars  have  emended,  and  construe  lo'ken 
also  with  the  verb  of  v.  3  b.  The  present  reading  laken  is  to  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  Zo'  was  written  without  a  vowel-letter,  and  in 
consequence,  was  read  with  the  follo-^-ing  ken  as  one  word,  cf.  the 
similar  case  24.  14.  The  preposition  min  of  rilh  mibbinathl  is  expletive 
min  (see  5.  15),  just  as  it  is  in  the  opposite  expression  ruh  mimmardm, 
'*■  Divine  spirit  "  (Is.  32.  15) ;    in  contradistinction  to  the  latter,  ruh 


NOTES  243 

mibUnathi  means  the  spirit,  the  source  of  which  is  one's  intuition  or 
experience,^  cf .  the  related  ruh  bitni,  32.  18.  Teaching  at  which  I  take 
offense,  musar  kelimmathl  is  a  case  of  qualificative  genitive,  similar 
to  newath  sidqeka,  8.  6.  Therefore  I  am  wrought  up.  No  emendation 
of  hushl  hi  is  necessary ;  as  stated  before,  the  verbs  expressing  haste 
denote  also  "  to  be  excited,"  or  "  act  excitedly,"  and  vice  versa,  the 
verbs  expressing  excitement,  as  e.g.  bahal,  harad,  have  the  secondary 
meaning  "to  do  things  in  haste  " ;  the  psychological  explanation  is 
obvious.  The  repetition  of  the  pronoun  by  means  of  the  preposition 
be  is  for  the  sake  of  emphasis ;  cf.  the  similar  examples  4.  21,  6.  13, 
II  Sam.  22.  2,  Ps.  27.  2,  144.  2. 

4  Dost  thou  not  know  this.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Ms.  de  Rossi 
379  and  Gk.   i  ^^^i?  (Beer-K.). 

5.  That  miqqarob  by  itself  can  mean  short-lived  seems  to  me  doubt- 
ful :  it  was  originally  preceded,  in  all  probability,  by  nii«,  as  may  be 
inferred  from  shesejath  of  Targ. ;  'obeda  is  to  be  construed  with  both 
parts  of  the  verse. 

6  What  is  left  of  him  now?     Cf.  14.  10. 

9  Neither  will  his  place  see  him  any  more.  Instead  of  the  third 
fem.  of  the  verb,  the  third  masc.  is  to  be  read  :  ■^\ 

10  His  children  left  poor,     dalllm  is  appositive. 

11  It  will  be  buried.  The  subject  of  tishkab  is  the  pluralia  tantum 
*alumaw,  which,  being  an  abstract,  may  be  construed  with  the  third 
sing.  fem. 

14  as  to  adder-venom,  merorath  is  not  subject,  but  accusative  of 
comparison. 

17  He  will  not  look  upon  the  herds  grazing  in  the  valley,  pelaggoth 
is  customarily  rendered  ''brooks  "  —  a  meaning  which  the  word  is  not 
likely  to  have.  Since  Judg.  5.  15f.,  where  the  word  occurs  again,  it 
means  "  sections  "  or  "  divisions  "  of  tribes,  and  since  here  Gk.  renders 
pelaggoth  with  vofxdhoiv,  I  conclude  that  it  is  used  with  the  mean- 
ing "  droves  "  or  "  herds  "  ;  further,  that  instead  of  the  plural  nahale, 
the  text  read  ^D^,  the  original  place  of  which  was  after  pelaggoth ;  nahal 
is  either  genitive,  or  accusative  of  place  (cf.  Is.  30.  23). 

18  his  possessions.  Join  the  1  of  welo'  to  the  preceding  word,  read- 
ing ■'i;^rj  the  reading  of  the  present  text  is  due  to  mistaken  word- 
division.     The  wealth  which  he  got  by  barter  he  will  not  enjoy.     Read, 

iBudde  rightly  refuted  Beer's  translation,  "Ein  Geist,  der  mehr  als 
ich  wissen  will,"  as  impossible,  but  his  own  translation,  "Und  Wind  fur 
meine  Einsicht,"  is  just  as  impossible. 


244  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

in  accordance  with  about  50  Mss.  and  Syr.,  Vn:i  and  omit  i  of  ivelo' 
which  is  dittography  of  the  final  i  of  the  preceding  word.  Mention 
must  be  made  of  the  reading  of  the  verse  in  Gk.,  "  Vainly  and  fruit- 
lessly has  he  labored  for  wealth  which  he  will  not  enjoy,  like  sine\\^ 
meat  which  cannot  be  chewed  or  swallowed."  The  first  part  of  this 
reading  is  without  question  superior  to  that  of  Heb.,  it  may  be  retrans- 
lated Q;:£?\  ^^  ^V?  J^J;  P^'^l  ^?n  The  retranslation  of  the  second 
part  cannot  be  attempted. 

19  He  hath  stolen  houses,  instead  of  building  them  himself.  The 
imperfect  jibnehu  is  imprf.  of  reiterated  action ;  note  that  also  in  21. 10, 
22.  9,  24.  2  the  perfect  is  used  alongside  of  the  imperfect,  although  by 
both  actions  occurring  repeatedly  are  described. 

20,  21.  The  translation  at  present  prevailing  of  v.  21  a,  "  There  was 
nothing  left  that  he  devoured  not,"  or  ''  Nothing  escaped  his  voracity," 
is  grammatically  mitenable.  If  this  were  the  meaning,  the  substan- 
tive governed  by  sarld  would  either  have  to  be  a  genitive  or  else  have 
to  be  construed  with  sarid  by  means  of  the  preposition  min;  moreover, 
it  is  even  doubtful  whether  sarld  could  be  said  at  all  of  things.  Verse 
21  a  as  it  reads  at  present  is  untranslatable,  it  had  originally  no  place 
here,  but,  together  with  v.  20  b,  formed  part  of  v.  26.  His  greed  has 
been  insatiable.  The  customary  translation  of  v.  20  a,  "  Because  he 
knew  not  quietness  within  him  "  or  "in  his  greed,"  it  has  repeatedlj^ 
been  pointed  out,  is  grammatically  untenable,  for  the  reason  that 
shalew,  being  an  adjective,  could  not  possibly  be  used  as  the  equivalent 
of  an  abstract  substantive.  Nor  is  the  proposed  emendation  to  read 
shalwa  or  shalom  for  shalew  acceptable,  smce  by  neither  word  could  the 
idea  be  expressed  that  he  felt  and  displa3^ed  restless,  insatiable  greed. 
On  the  strength  of  the  rendering  of  the  Vulg.,  nee  est  satiatus  venter  eius, 
it  may  safely  be  concluded  that,  instead  of  shalew,  the  text  originally 
read  ^>l^^,  cf.  the  parallel  Is.  56.  11,  lo'  jade'u  sabe'a.  The  parallel 
members  of  w.  20  a  and  21  b  are  missing,  and  there  are  no  means  of 
restoring  them,  'en  and  Woklo  is  all  that  is  left  of  them ;  what  Vulg. 
read  as  v.  20  b,  et  cum  habuerit  quae  concupierat,  possidere  non  poterit, 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  parallel  thought  either  to  20  a  or  20  6,  but  to 
V.  18,  especially  as  read  by  Gk. 

22  trouble  will  beset  him.  This  expresses  the  meaning  ofjeser  Id  more 
accurately  than  the  customary  translation,  "he  shall  be  in  straits"; 
we  have  here  one  of  the  many  cases  of  the  use  of  the  imperfect  of  verbs 
of  state  or  condition  to  denote  ingressive  action.  With  unsparing 
hand  affliction  will  descend  upon  him.     Vocalize,  in  accordance  with 


NOTES  245 

Vulg.,  and  as  commonly  emended,  ^^>',  which,  being  an  abstract,  is 
here  fem.,  as  it  is  Eccl.  10.  15;  cf.  also  the  remark  on  v.  11.  Koljad, 
which  is  generally  misunderstood,  is  adverbial  accusative,  and  ellipsis 
for  kol  hozeqjad;  the  ellipsis  occurs  again  Is.  28.  2,  ''  Who  shall  thrust 
her  to  the  ground  with  violence,"  also,  though  with  a  different  conno- 
tation, Jer.  15.  17. 

23,  25  6/8,  and  XXVII.  22  a,  XX.  24,  and  XXVII.  22  h  God  will  cast 
upon  him  His  burning  wrath.  The  apocopate  jehi  in  v.  23  a  has  no  raison 
d'etre ;  further,  the  omission  of  the  acting  subject,  which  is  God,  makes 
the  verse  uncouth.  The  emendation  by  Wright  of  jehl  to  niH'  is  very 
convincing.  And  will  pour  down  terror  upon  him  without  mercy.  He 
will  be  unable  to  flee  from  the  iron  weapon.  Another  crux  in  v.  23 
is  bilhumo,  on  which  light  is  thrown,  on  the  one  hand,  by  27. 22,  and  on 
the  other,  by  the  fact  that  in  place  of  bilhumo  Gk.  has  oSwag  (with 
which  ballahoth  is  rendered  in  18.  11,  27.  20,  30.  15),  while  in  20.  25 
'alaw  'emim  was  not  read  by  the  original  Gk. ;  ctt  avn}  <^o/5ot  (from 
Theod.)  is  missing  in  Sah.  and  sub  *  in  S'^  Hie.  and  /8.  And  since  'alaw 
'emlm  is  a  foreign  element  in  20.  25,  baraq  being  subject  of  iahdlok  (see 
below),  the  obvious  conclusion  is  that  it  got  into  v.  25  from  v.  23; 
'emim  was  omitted  in  the  latter  verse,  and,  with  'alaw  as  a  cue,  was 
put  in  the  margin,  whence  both  were  added  to  v.  25.  'emlm  supplies 
the  direct  object  required  by  jamter,  which  is  missing  in  the  present 
Hebrew  text  of  v.  23 ;  for  'alemo  the  original  'alaw  of  v.  25  c  is  to  be 
substituted. 

XXVII.  22  does  not  fit  in  its  present  place,  for  after  it  has  been  said  in 
V.  21  that  "  The  east  wind  will  whirl  him  aloft  and  sweep  him  away 
from  his  place,"  the  statement  in  v.  22,  that  he  will  be  made  the  target 
of  a  merciless  attack,  is  rather  belated.  The  verse  is  fragmentary ;  the 
direct  object  required  by  jashlek  is  missing,  and  baroh  jibrah  is  clearly 
incorrect.  The  customary  translation  of  the  latter  phrase,  "  he  would 
fain  flee,"  is  a  mere  makeshift;  it  is  contrary  to  grammatical  rule, 
since  the  cognate  accusative  invariably  expresses  emphasis.  The 
verse  belonged  originally  to  20.  23  6,  and  24  a,  wajjashlek  'alaw,  is 
variant  of  wajjamter  'alaw,  the  object  of  which  we  found  to  have  been 
'emim,  while  in  weld'  jahmol  we  have  the  original  reading  of  the  corrupt 
Hebrew  bilhumo  of  20.  23  b.  Further,  baroh  jibrah  of  27.  22  formed  a 
variant  or  rather  marginal  correction  of  jibrah  of  20.  24  a,  the  original 
reading  of  which,  however,  was  ni3'  vh  as  we  know  from  the  fact 
that  the  negative  was  read  by  Gk.,  ov  ixrj  (roiOrj;  doiOy  is  a  mis- 
take for  original  <^vy>y  as  is  shown  by  Sah.,  nnefrbol.    Finally,  jad, 


246  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

the  pronominal  suffix  of  which  was  added  after  the  verse  had  been 
put  in  27.  22,  was  originally  a  variant  of  nesheq  of  20.  24 ;  the  Gk. 
proves  this,  as  it  actually  reads  jad  in  20.  24  in  place  of  nesheq, 
€<  x€t/3o?  (nSrjpov  (barzel  by  itself  meaning  "  weapon  "  occurs  again 
41.  19,  II  Sam.  23.  7).  will  pierce  him  through.  The  verb  halaf,  de- 
noting that  a  weapon  passes  clear  through  the  body,  occurs  again 
Judg.  5.  26 ;  it  must  not  be  confounded  with  halaf,  "  to  follow," 
"  pass  by  "  etc. 

XX.  25  The  missile  will  penetrate  his  back.  The  glittering  sword 
will  enter  his  gall.  The  customary  interpretation  of  the  verse  based 
on  the  corrupt  reading  shalaf  of  Heb.,  is  as  follows :  "He  draws  it 
out  hoping  to  save  himself,  not  knowing  that  he  is  mortally  stricken, 
but  with  the  drawing  of  it  out  there  fall  on  him  the  terrors  of  death."  ^ 
But  the  statement  v.  24  c  that  the  arrow  shot  from  the  bow  will  pass 
through  him  leaves  no  room  for  such  an  absurd  situation  as  carried  into 
the  verse  by  the  present  Hebrew  of  25  a.  In  accordance  with  Gk. 
Ste^eXOoL  Se  Slo.  o-id/jutos  avrov  ySeAos,  which  is  excellent,  Siegfried 
rightly  emended  25a  to  read:  mjp  nW  KV'l.  That  Siegfried's 
emendation  has  not  been  generally  accepted  is  due  partly  to  'alaw 
'emlm,  which,  as  we  saw  above,  does  not  belong  here,  and  which 
obscures  the  meaning  of  the  verse,  but  mainly  to  the  fact  that  the  force 
of  the  preposition  min  of  miggewo  and  mimroratho  has  not  been  recog- 
nized, and  in  consequence  the  verse  as  a  whole  not  been  understood. 
Min  in  both  phrases  is  the  same  as  in  Cant.  2.  9  "  looking  in  (mm)  the 
window,"  and  in  Arab,  dahala  mina  'l-bahi,  "he  entered  the  door," 
that  is,  it  is  min  denoting  entrance.  When  min  is  so  taken,  v.  25 
makes  perfect  sense.  Amplifying  v.  24,  v.  25  states  that  the  missile 
from  which  he  seeks  to  flee  will  penetrate  his  back  and  enter  his  gall, 
which  means  will  wound  him  mortally  (see  remarks  on  16.  13).  With 
the  meaning  of  halak  min  cf.  Judg.  1.  3  where  halak  be  is  used  synony- 
mously with  'aid  be  meaning  "  invade  " ;  baraq  is  ellipsis  either  for 
beraq  hereb  (Deut.  32.  41),  or  beraq  hdnith  (Hab.  3.  11).  The  sing,  of 
halak  shows  that  it  is  predicate  of  baraq ;  accordingly  the  contents  as 
well  as  the  syntactical  construction  of  v.  25  leave  no  doubt  that  'alaw 
'emlm  is  not  an  organic  part  of  it. 

26,  20  b,  21  a  Utter  darkness  is  in  store  for  those  he  cherisheth  .  .  . 
No  survivor  will  be  left  in  his  tent.  That  lisfunaw  of  26  a  is  not  original 
reading  is  evident  from  the  participle  tamun  directly  connected  with  it. 
I  find  the  clew  to  the  original  text  in  Aq.'s  rendering  rots  iyK€Lfx.evoLs 

1  Davidson. 


NOTES  247 

avrw  (in  Field).  To  ascertain  what  the  Hebrew  copy  of  Aquila 
read,  it  must  be  remembered  that  lyKeidOat  tlvl  means  in  Greek 
writ  "  be  devoted  to  one,"  "  be  in  love  with  him,"  ^  and  that 
it  occurs  with  this  meaning  also  in  Old  Test.  Greek,  Gen.  34.  19, 
where  hafes  bebath  Ja'kob  is  rendered  iveKciTo  rrj  dvyarpl  'I.  From 
this  it  may  be  concluded  that  for  lisfunaw  the  original  text  read 
rn^anS.  This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  in  place 
of  lisfunaw  the  Syr.  has  letawleddtheh,  and  that  also  in  v.  21  a  Sjn*.  read 
the  same  word  (with  the  preposition  men).  The  fact  that  Syr.  has  the 
same  reading  in  both  these  verses  is  an  indication  that  hdmudaw  ^  — 
with  la  instead  of  the  present  ba  —  of  v.  20  b  originally  stood  in  v.  26 ; 
further,  that  lo'  jemalled  of  20  b,  which,  in  accordance  with  Theod. 
Syr.  and  Targ.  is  to  be  vocalized,  lo^  jimmdled,  formed  the  original  predi- 
cate of  sand  be'ohdlo  of  26  c  (as  regards  jera'  see  below).  The  predi- 
cate Zo'  jimmdled  was  omitted  and,  with  sand  added  as  a  cue,  was 
put  in  the  margin ;  from  there  both  got  subsequently  into  vv.  20-21, 
as  did  also  lahamudaw,  which  had  likewise  been  omitted.  The  present 
reading  lisfunaw  is  probably  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  safun 
was  primarily  a  variant  of  tamun.  From  the  restored  text  of  26  a  and 
c  it  follows  that  in  26  b  the  text  must  originally  have  read  diD^n ; 
instead  of  the  masculine  nuppah  read,  with  Duhm  and  Beer-K.,  fem. 
nnaj,  which  was  written  in  abbreviated  form.  Not  blown  by  human 
breath.  Zo'  nuppaha  is  ellipsis  for  Zo'  nuppaha  befoe;  as  somewhat 
analogous,  the  ellipsis  Zo'  bejad,  "  not  by  human  hand,"  34.  20,  Dan. 
2.  34,  may  be  mentioned. 

28,  27.  Since  v.  28  completes  the  description  in  v.  26  of  the  destruc- 
tion awaiting  the  homestead  of  the  wicked  man,  while  v.  27  states  in 
a  general  way  the  deduction  to  be  derived  from  it,  it  is  clear  that  v.  27 
must  originally  have  followed  v.  28. 

27  The  foundations  of  his  house  will  be  laid  bare,  they  will  be  de- 
stroyed forever  on  the  day  of  wrath.  The  present  text  of  the  verse  is 
manifestly  corrupt.  In  the  first  place,  since  jebul  can  mean  produce 
of  the  soil  only,  "  the  produce  of  his  house  will  depart  "  would  be  an  odd 
expression ;  further  the  plur.  niggaroth  does  not  agree  with  jebul.  The 
original  reading  of  27  a  has  been  preserved  by  Syr.,  nethgaljdn  shethe^se* 
debajteh,  the  Hebrew  of  which  is  ir>^3  nniD;  n;r;..3    The  verb  je'aru 

1  See  Liddell-Scott,  Greek-English  Lex.,  s.v. 

2  The  plural  with  the  suffix  of  the  third  sing,  was  spelled  phonetically. 

'  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  that  the  third  plur.  masc.  imperfect 
is  very  common  with  a  fem.  subject  (cf.  Ges.-Kautzsch,  §  145,  p,  t,  u). 


248  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

has  not  been  lost  in  Hebrew ;  it  may  be  seen  in  ^"''  of  v.  26  c,  with  the 
two  last  radicals  transposed,  and  the  final  u  of  the  third  plur.  omitted ; 
the  present  jigel  of  v.  28  a  is  due  to  dittography  of  jegallu  of  v.  27= 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  niggaroth  of  the  second  clause  accords  with  the 
original  resLdingje^aru  jesodoth  of  28  a ;  its  meaning  "  will  be  destroyed  '* 
may  be  considered  as  estabhshed  from  the  occurrence  of  the  Hifil^ 
higgir,  as  a  parallel  expression  to  "  lay  bare  her  foundations,"  in  Mic. 
1.  6,  where  Gk.  correctly  renders  higgir  with  Karao-Trav.^  From 
Gk.,  eU  TcAos,  it  may  be  deduced  that  after  niggaroth  the  original 
text  read  ni*;*?^  and  from  Vulg.,  furoris  Dei,  that  instead  of  'appd, 
it  read  S5<  ^5<. 

29.  Verse  27  is  the  original  end  of  the  speech ;  it  expresses  the  thought 
at  which  Zophar  has  been  aiming  tliroughout,  that  through  his  affic- 
tions  a  man  is  exposed  as  a  sinner.  This  conclusion  is  further  borne 
out  by  the  fact  that  verse  29  recurs  with  but  a  slight  variation  in  27.  13. 
And  since  verbatim  repetitions  are  carefully  avoided  in  the  Book  of 
Job,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  verse  was  originally  used  in  one 
place,  namely  27. 13,  where  alone  it  has  cogency. 

XXI.  XXII.  17-18,  XXIV.  1-18,  22-23,  25,  XXX.  2-8. 

For  synopsis,  see  pp.  52ff. 

XXI.  2  Let  this  be  the  consolation  ye  give  me.  Read,  in  accordance 
with  all  the  versions,  tanhumathkem,  sing.  (Beer-K.  and  others).  The 
suffix  of  tanhumathkem  is  subjective  suffix,  and  was  so  understood  by 
Gk.,  which  renders  it  Trap  vfxwv  and  supplies  ftot  as  implied  by  the 
construction ;  /at),  which  is  missing  in  Compl.,  is  a  mistake  in  the  Greek. 

3  Ye  will  mock  no  more.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  i3'>'/r»  i<7, 
Tlie  reading  lo'  harmonizes  so  much  better  with  v.  5,  that  it  must 
be  considered  original;  the  plur.  taVigu  was  read  also  by  the 
other  versions,  and  has  the  support  of  the  parallelism;  the  singular 
reading  of  the  present  text  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  third  plur.  was 
written  without  final  u. 

4,  5.  Verse  5  is  the  original  continuation  of  v.  3 ;  v.  4  belongs  in  ch.  13, 
after  v.  3. 

8  with  them :  lifnehem  is  a  variant  of  ^imnmrn,  and  is  to  be  omitted. 

Note  that  Syr.  renders  'aru,  Ps.  137.  7,  with  galaw.  It  may  be  mentioned 
also  that  since  niglajesodo  (Ezek.  13. 14)  occui's  as  passive  of  'agallejesodoe- 
ha  (Mic.  1.  6),  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  'arajesod  (Hab.  3.  43,  Ps.  137.  7) 
was  used  in  the  Nif'al. 

1  For  lagaj  Gk.  reads  et's  xaos. 


NOTES  249 

12  They  sing  to  the  timbrel.  Read,  in  accordance  with  30  Mss. 
and  all  the  versions,  betof  (Beer-K.) ;  jis'u  is  ellipsis  ior  jis'it  qolam. 

13  They  spend.  The  Kere  is  borne  out  by  Gk.  and  Targ.  And 
in  peace  they  go  down  to  Sheol.  VocaHze  -inn:,  as  was  read  by  the 
versions  —  an  emendation  generally  accepted ;  rega'  is  abstract  sub- 
stantive from  raga',  "  be  at  rest,"  and  was  understood  as  such  by  both 
Gk.  and  Targ. 

XXII.  17  b,  XXI.  15,  16  a,  XXII.  18  a,  XXI.  16  6.  That  22.  17, 
18  originally  belonged  to  21.  14-16  is  not  difficult  to  recognize.  Note 
that  22.  17  a  and  18  b  are  verbatim  repetitions  of  21.  14  a,  and  16  6. 
Of  these,  the  former  comprised  at  one  time  the  entire  verse  16. 14,  the 
second  part  of  it  being  still  read  by  Sjt.^  of  22.  17,  walemeda'  'urhdthdk 
M  sebajnan,  and  by  Ms.  Ken.  525.  The  verse  was  repeated  in  order 
to  serve  as  a  cue  for  22.  17  b,  which  had  primarily  been  put  in  the 
margin  as  a  correction  of  ma  shaddaj  of  21.  15:  in  22.  17  b  the  orig- 
inal text,  as  Gk.  and  Syr.  show,  read  ^^)  for  lamo.  Note  that  ma  shad,- 
daj,  though  accepted  without  question  by  the  exegetes  and  grammari- 
ans, is  impossible  Hebrew ;  ^  by  substituting  for  it  the  correction  22. 
17  b,  we  not  only  get  perfect  Hebrew,  but  the  parallelism  of  22.  15  be- 
comes greatly  enhanced.  22. 18  a  was  originally  omitted  after  21. 16  a, 
and  put  in  the  margin,  with  21.  16  6  added  as  a  cue.  From  the  margin 
both  omissions  with  their  cues  were  subsequently  taken  into  ch.  22 
after  v.  16.  That  22.  17-18  is  a  disturbing  element  in  its  present  sur- 
roundings has  been  repeatedly  observed;  Merx  and  Siegfried  omit 
v.  17,  while  Budde  and  Steuernagel  omit  both  verses  as  glosses  from  21. 
14-16,  considering  them  simply  as  repetitions. 

Far  be  from  me  the  view  taken  by  the  wicked.  Job,  filled  with  the 
consciousness  of  man's  dependence  upon  God,  repudiates  the  view 
entertained  by  the  wicked  that  their  prosperity  is  their  own  work ; 
Deut.  8.  17  and  Is.  10.  13  show  that  this  view  was  not  unusual  even  in 
those  days. 

XXIV.  18  b,  which  (with  a  number  of  other  verses  of  the  chapter)  has 
been  omitted  as  a  gloss  by  Siegfried  and  Budde,  fits  in  well  between 
21.  17  and  18.  About  24.  18  c  nothing  positive  can  be  said,  except 
that  its  present  reading,  "  He  turneth  not  by  the  way  of  vineyards," 
cannot  be  the  original ;  Gk.  has  a  radically  different  reading :  ava^avcLTj 
Se  TO.  <^vTa  avrSiv  lin  y^9  ^-qpa,  which,  with  the  exception  of  CTTt  y^s, 
may  well  represent  the  original  parallel  member  of  v.  18  a? 

1  It  could  only  have  the  absurd  meaning,  "What  an  Almighty  !" 

2  e.  7.  is  probably  dittography  of  the  same  phrase  in  the  preceding  clause. 


250  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

21.  18  like  straw  driven  by  the  wind,  lifne  ruh  is  ellipsis  for  niddaf 
lifm  ruh;  the  full  phrase  occurs  Ps.  1.  4. 

19.  In  19  a,  God  layeth  up  for  a  man's  children  the  disaster  due 
him,  Job  evidently  quotes  a  current  adage.  Tliis  explains  the  sudden 
change  from  the  plural  of  the  pronominal  suffixes  to  the  singular. 
That  the  singular  should  have  been  maintained  in  the  following  sen- 
tences is  quite  natural. 

21.     Cf.  14.  21  and  the  remarks  on  the  latter  verse. 

22  Doth  God  practise  discrimination?  Doth  He  judge  in  His  abode 
on  high?  If  the  present  reading  of  v.  22  a  were  genuine,  and  the  tradi- 
tional translation  of  the  verse  correct,  the  whole  verse  would  be,  if  not 
directly  contradictory,  so  out  of  harmony  w^th  the  tendency  and  pur- 
port of  ch.  21,  that  it  could  not  be  considered  a  part  of  it.  All  specu- 
lation as  to  the  original  reading  of  22  a  may,  however,  be  dispensed 
with,  as  we  have  sufficient  definite  data  to  go  by.  Eliphaz  in  22.  13, 
which  is  the  same  in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  "  Yet  thou  sayest,  *  What 
doth  God  know?  Doth  He  judge  behind  the  clouds?  '  "  does  not 
distort  Job's  arguments  in  ch.  21,  as  commonly  thought,  nor  does  he 
refer,  in  a  belated  way,  to  Job's  utterance  9.  21 ;  he  simply  repeats 
Job's  question,  21.  22,  though  in  altered  Dhraseology  —  a  proceeding 
which  is  not  without  parallel.  This  points  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
I  of  haVel  is  a  secondary  element,  and  that  the  original  text  read  /i?n, 
also  that,  instead  of  "^^V:,  it  read  "»o^;,  the  meaning  of  which  is  here 
"  practice,"  or  "  exercise  "  just  as  in  Is.  2.  4,  26.  9  f.,  Ps.  119.  7,  73.i 
Further,  since  the  adjective  ram,  rdmim,  is  nowhere  used  as  an  equiva- 
lent of  either  qadosh,  qHoshim,  or  of  'eljon,  'eljonlm,  the  meaning  "  celes- 
tial beings  "  of  ramlm  is  excluded ;  the  word  can  mean  only  celestial 
heights  (accusative  of  place),  as  in  Ps.  78.  69;  accordingly  21.  22  6 
would  have  to  be  taken  as  another  question  even  if  we  had  not  22.  13  h 
to  guide  us.  This  meaning  of  21.  22  h  is  an  additional  proof  that  the 
reading  of  22  a  established  above  is  original.  Still  another  proof  is 
the  parallel  we  have  to  our  verse  in  Ps.  73. 10  —  a  parallel  which  carries 
weight,  as  Psalm  73,  in  thought  and  phraseology,  shows  close  relation 
to  Job.  The  verse  reads :  "  They  say,  '  How  doth  God  show  con- 
cern? Is  notice  taken  of  it  by  the  Most-High?  '  "  Note  that  this 
psalm-verse  is  followed  up  in  v.  11  by  the  identical  line  of  reasoning 
with  which  Job  21.  22  is  followed  up  in  v.  23f.  Finally,  it  may  be 
pointed  out  that  when  v.  22  a  is  read  as  emended,  we  have  perfect  clear- 

1  From  the  context  it  may  be  seen  that  in  all  these  passages  lamad  de- 
notes "practice,"  and  that  the  customary  translation  ''learn"  is  inaccurate. 


NOTES  251 

ness  and  sequence.  Later  editors,  who  took  umbrage  at  Job's  question, 
changed  v.  22  a,  but  fortunately  left  22.  13  untouched.  The  reason 
that  they  limited  their  redactorial  activity  to  the  first  part  of  the  verse 
was  that,  failing  to  see  that  the  interrogative  particle  was  to  be  con- 
strued also  with  the  second  clause,  they  took  the  latter  as  declarative.^ 
There  are  two  versions  of  22  a,  the  one  being  of  the  Hebrew  text, 
Sym.  Vulg.  and  Targ.,  and  the  other  of  the  Greek. 

26  in  the  grave.     Cf.  remarks  on  7.  21  and  17.  16. 

30,  XXIV.  18  a  on  the  day.  That  the  preposition  le  in  the  two  tem- 
poral adverbial  phrases  of  v.  30  is  in  order,  may  be  seen  from  such 
parallel  examples  as  Is.  10.  3,  Ps.  10.  1,  32.  6.  As  to  jubalu,  the  final 
u  is  to  be  read  with  mi  of  v.  31,  while  the  word  itself  (which  cannot 
possibly  mean  "  he  swims  on  the  top  ")  got  in  the  verse  here  through 
dittography  of  jubal  of  v.  32.  24. 18  a,  omitted  by  Siegfried  and  Budde 
as  a  gloss,  because  it  is  not  logically  connected  with  the  surrounding 
verses,  makes  excellent  sense  when  read  after  21.  30  b,  to  which,  with- 
out a  doubt,  it  originally  formed  the  conclusion ;  a  trace  of  this  is 
still  to  be  seen  in  Theod.'s  reading  Koix^t^erat,  "  he  will  be  light,"  of 
21.30  a. 

XXIV.  22  a,  23,  which  likemse  have  no  logical  connection  in  their 
present  surroundings,  fit  in  well  as  the  continuation  of  21.  30,  24.  18  a. 

XXIV.  22  a  The  tyrant  liveth  long.  Buhl  has  convincingly  emended 
^abbirlm  to  V??^  "^"^^.^  The  present  reading  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  second  of  the  two  words  was  written  in  abbreviated  form,  and, 
not  being  recognized,  was  read  with  'abJnr  as  one  word ;  with  the  mean- 
ing of  the  clause  cf.  Is.  13.  22,  "  Her  days  shall  not  be  prolonged." 
About  22  b  see  below. 

23  He  enjoyeth  safety  renders  the  Hebrew  idiom  accurately ;  jiiten 
is  impersonal  construction.  And  is  full  of  hope.  Since  jishshd'en, 
followed  by  a  prepositional  phrase,  means  "  place  one's  reliance  on  " 
or  "  trust  in,"  used  absolutely,  it  must  mean  "  be  filled  with  "  or  "  full 
of  confidence,"  or  is  full  of  hope;  the  meaning  "  he  is  supported  "  is 
excluded,  since  the  verb  is  used  as  a  reflexive  only.  The  eyes  of  God 
watch  over  his  ways.  Read  nin^  'r;;. ;  the  present  reading  'enehu 
is  another  case  of  mistaken  word-division,  due  to  the  fact  that  in" 
was  written  in  abbreviated  form  and  not  recognized ;  in  support  of  this 
reading  Deus  read  by  Vulg.  in  the  first  part  of  the  verse  may  be  pointed 

^  Gk.,  <t>bvov$,  due  to  the  reading  damlm  for  rdraim,  is,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, not  to  be  considered  as  a  conscious  change. 
2  See  Ges.-Buhl.,  TF6.,  13th  ed. 


252  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

out.    Instead  of  darkehem,  read,  in  accordance  with  Vulg.,  viis  illius, 

'XXI.  31  Who  then.     Read  'P^  cf.  remarks  on  v.  30. 

32/33.  The  parts  of  the  two  verses  must  originally  have  followed  one 
another  in  the  order  in  which  I  place  them.  33  c  is  a  gloss.  And  of 
his  tomb  care  is  taken.  The  customary  translation,  "  watch  is  kept," 
is  wrong  and  obscures  the  meaning ;  it  is  the  combination  of  shaqad 
with  the  preposition  'al  that  gives  it  the  meaning  care  is  taken;  cf. 
the  similar  meaning  of  shaqad  with  'al  "  to  be  soUcitous  to  "  or  "  for," 
Jer.  1.  12,  31.  28,  Dan.  9.  14.  Gadlsh  is  the  same  as  Arab,  gadat,  mean- 
ing the  Kubba,  i.e.,  the  monument  erected  over  the  grave,  and  it  is 
important  for  our  purposes  to  note  that  in  Arabic  countries  such  monu- 
ments were  erected  only  over  the  graves  of  persons  who  enjoyed  social 
distinction. 

Verses  32-33  give  us  a  good  idea  of  the  conditions  which  prevailed 
in  ancient  society,  especially  of  the  great  gulf  which  existed  between 
the  privileged  classes,  numerically  few,  and  the  masses.  In  this  con- 
nection, it  will  be  illuminating  to  cite  a  couple  of  references  from 
Egyptian  literature  to  the  class  distinctions  which  obtained  even  in 
death.  The  poem.  The  Discourse  between  a  Man  Weary  of  Life  and 
His  Own  Soul,  dating  from  about  2000  b.c,  speaks  of  the  sadness  that 
burial  means  for  the  poor  man,  "  who  is  taken  from  his  home  and 
thrown  away  on  the  hills,"  or  whose  body  is  left  on  the  river  bank 
exposed  to  the  water  and  the  heat,  and  gnawed  by  fishes.^  And  in 
The  Tale  of  Khamuas  and  His  Son  Si-Osiri,  dating  from  the  Graeco- 
Roman  period,  we  read,  I,  15-19,  II,  10,  12 :  "  Stme  heard  the  voice 
of  wailing;  looking  from  the  upper  chamber  of  his  dwelling,  behold, 
he  saw  a  rich  man  whom  they  were  carrying  to  the  desert-necropolis, 
the  wailing  being  exceedingly  loud,  and  the  funeral-glory  great.  He 
looked  again,  behold  he  saw  a  poor  man  being  carried  out  from  Mem- 
phis, wrapped  in  a  mat,  with  not  a  man  on  earth  walking  after  him. 
Said  Stme,  '  By  Ptah,  the  great  god,  how  much  better  it  shall  be  in 
Amenti  for  great  men  for  whom  they  make  glory  with  the  voice  of  wail- 
ing than  for  the  poor  men  whom  they  take  to  the  desert  without 
glory  of  funeral.'  "  ^  xhe  great  solicitude  for  the  dead  and  their 
graves,  which  the  popular  mind  is  wont  to  regard  as  a  general  charac- 
teristic of  Egyptian  life,  was  practiced  only  by  the  privileged  classes. 

1  Line  XlVf . ;  cf .  Erman's  above  quoted  edition  of  the  poem,  pp.  9, 
40-44. 

2  Griflath,  Stories  of  the  High  Priests  of  Memphis,  pp.  44f .,  146ff., 
also  48f .,  154ff.  '^ 


NOTES  253 

The  common  man  had  not  the  means  to  pay  for  the  great  cost  of  em- 
balming ;  he  was  too  destitute  even  to  secure  an  individual  grave  and 
honorable  burial  for  the  bodies  of  his  loved  ones.  Although  in  ancient 
Egypt  various  sacred  animals  were  embalmed,  and  burial  ground  pro- 
vided for  them  by  certain  temple  communities,  no  such  provisions  were 
made  for  the  lower  classes.  As  elsewhere,  their  dead  were  buried  with- 
out ceremony  in  a  collective  grave,  referred  to  in  the  Bible  as  the  pit, 
where  the  bodies  were  piled  in  a  stack,  often  reaching  to  the  very  top. 
And  there  were  still  poorer  people  who  did  not  find  a  place  even  in  the 
pit,  but  who  were  left  by  the  wayside  or  riverbank,  "  thrown  away  on 
the  hills,"  as  our  poem  puts  it.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  we  have 
a  Biblical  parallel  to  the  Egyptian  "  thrown  away  on  the  hills  "  in  Is. 
14.  19,  according  to  the  undoubtedly  original  reading  of  the  Greek 
version  :  "  Thou  shalt  be  thrown  away  on  the  hills,  a  loathed  corpse, 
along  with  the  many  dead  that  have  been  thrust  through  by  the  sword." 
Like  our  verses  from  Job,  the  verse  shows  that  the  conditions  illustrated 
by  the  Egyptian  documents  cited  were  characteristic  also  of  Israel. 
It  should  be  added  that  even  as  late  as  Talmudic  times  we  find  refer- 
ience  to  such  unceremonious  burial  as  that  spoken  of  in  the  Egyptian 
jtale  of  Khamuas,  where  the  body  was  tied  up  in  a  mat  of  reed,  cf. 
Berak.  babli,  18  b. 

27.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  by  v.  27  Job  tells  the  friends  that 
he  knows  perfectly  well  that  in  their  pictures  of  the  ruin  awaiting  the 
wicked  man  they  have  his  fate  in  mind.  And  if  this  is  the  meaning, 
as  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  then  v.  27  must  be  out  of  place 
between  v.  26  and  v.  28 ;  vv.  28ff .  take  up  afh  entirely  new  thought. 
Verse  27  fits  well  after  v.  34,  to  the  second  part  of  which  it  furnishes 
the  proper  explanation. 

XXIV.  1-17,  25.  Chapter  24  is  so  conspicuously  out  of  place 
after  ch.  23  that  some  critics  have  thought  the  entire  chapter  ^ 
or  at  least  verses  9-24  ^  spurious.  When  taken  as  continuation 
of  ch.  21,  however,  24.  1-17,  25,  as  rearranged,  forms  a  very 
natural  and  proper  supplement  (see  p.  52f).  The  tendency 
to  eliminate  these  very  genuine  verses  is  due  not  alone  to  the 

'  Duhm,  op.  cit.,  pp.  llSff.,  Strahan,  op.  cit.,  pp.  212ff.,  retain  v._  25 
oJy,  the  former  adding  in  regard  to  vv.  2-4,  "sie  konnten  zur  Not  einer 
Rede  der  Freunde  angehoren,"  while  Volz.  op.  cit,  p.  26f.,  throws  out 
the  entire  chapter. 

2  Merx,  op.  cit,  pp.  127ff. 


254  THE   BOOK   OF  JOB 

text-disorder,  but,  in  a  still  greater  degree,  to  the  misinterpreta- 
tion which  prevails  of  24.  5-11.  Their  misinterpretation  is  to 
be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  economic  conditions  of  ancient 
society,  whether  in  Israel  or  throughout  the  Orient,  have  not 
been  taken  sufficiently  into  account  in  the  historical  works 
dealing  mth  those  times. 

The  conditions  of  the  masses  as  they  existed  in  ancient  India, 
or  as  they  developed  in  Rome  in  the  days  of  the  Empire,  are  not 
isolated  phenomena,  but  t>i)ical  cases  of  ancient  society.  In  the 
Orient  and  Occident  alike,  the  masses  were  ground  down  by 
extortion  and  oppression  into  a  condition  of  hopeless  degrada- 
tion. The  Egyptian  pj^amids,  which  have  endured  to  this 
day,  are  the  colossal  monuments  of  the  enslavement  of  the 
masses.  Steam  engines  were  unkno^sTi  in  those  times,  cattle 
and  horses  were  scarce  and  costly ;  human  beings,  which  were 
both  plentiful  and  inexpensive,  were  used  in  their  stead.  Thou- 
sands of  men  were  put  in  harness,  and  made  to  haul  the  huge 
granite  blocks  to  Gizeh  and  Hawara  from  the  far  distant 
quarries  of  Assuan  and  Hammamat,  the  latter  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  desert.  They  perished  by  hundreds  in  the  course  of  the 
transport  along  the  torrid  desert  roads,  but  always  others  were 
drawn  in  to  fill  the  gaps.  These  conditions  were  throughout 
ancient  times  accepted  without  murmur  or  protest ;  they  were 
looked  upon  as  the  natural  order  of  things,  or  as  a  divine  insti- 
tution not  to  be  questioned.  Even  Plato  held  that  the  aristo- 
cratic classes  alone  had  a  claim  to  human  rights  and  privileges, 
that  the  masses  existed  for  the  sole  purpose  of  toiling  for  the 
comfort  of  the  few.  Job.  24,  1-17,  in  their  indictment  of  these 
conditions,  are,  barring  the  prophetic  writings,  without  parallel  I 
in  ancient  literature ;  more  than  any  other  part  of  Job  theyi 
strike  a  distinctly  modern  note.  We  cannot  but  marvel  at  thej 
keen  analytic  mind  and  the  rare  human  sjTupathy  of  the  au-| 
thor  whose  soul,  twenty-three  hundred  years  ago,  was  stirred| 
to  passionate  protest  by  the  contemplation  of  the  wretched  lot 


^OTES  255 

bf  the  poor.  No  wonder  that  these  verses  were  misunderstood. 
How  could  it  be  guessed  (such  was  the  spirit  of  the  times)  that 
they  referred  to  the  common  people?  They  were  taken  to 
^escribe  a  lawless  and  outcast  class  which  lived  the  life  of  free- 
booters —  an  interpretation  which,  antedating,  as  there  is 
proof  that  it  did,  the  translation  of  Job  into  Greek,  continued 
to  prevail  among  the  Medieval  commentators  and  was  adopted, 
finally,  by  Luther  and  the  King  James  and  Revised  Versions. 
Modern  scholars,  who  have  upheld  this  traditional  interpreta- 
tion, have  been  obliged  to  resort  to  arbitrary  emendations  of 
vv.  5-11. 

1  Why  are  not  sessions  of  judgment  set  apart  by  the  Almighty? 
Contrast  Ps.  75.  3f.,  where  the  very  opposite  is  asserted :  "  When  I 
find  the  set  time  come,  I  will  judge  uprightly."  As  to  the  construc- 
tion of  min  with  the  passive  to  denote  the  agent,  cf.  Nah.  1.  6,  Ps.  37. 
23,  et  al. 

2  There  are  those  that  commit  land  robbery.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
verse  HDH  dropped  out,  as  alii  of  Vulg.  shows.  Latifundia  were  no 
less  known  in  ancient  Israel  than  in  Rome,  in  postexilic  as  well  as  in 
preexilic  times ;  cf.  Is.  5.  8,  "  Woe  unto  those  that  join  house  to  house, 
that  add  field  to  field,  till  there  is  no  place  left,  and  ye  are  the  only 
landholders  in  the  country,"  Mic.  2.  2,  "  They  covet  fields,  and  steal 
them,  houses,  and  take  them  away ;  so  they  defraud  a  man  and  his 
estate,  a  person  and  his  heritage,"  Is.  65.  21ff.,  and  also  Hos.  5.  10, 
where  this  system  of  land  robbery  is  designated  J3y  the  same  expression 
as  in  the  verse  of  Job  here.  Together  with  the  shepherd.  Instead  of 
wajir'u,  read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  "^i^"^]. 

9  Verse  9  is  not  a  variant  of  v.  3,  as  several  scholars  think,  but  its 
original  continuation.  From  the  mother's  breast.  Vocalize,  in  ac- 
cordance with  Gk.,  "»^P.  The  infant  of  the  poor.  Vocalize  ^j{i,  as 
Elamphausen  correctly  emended. 

5  Lonely  as  wild-asses  in  the  wilderness  they  go  forth  to  their 
daily  labor.  pera%m  is  accusative  of  comparison,  and  was  understood 
as  such  by  the  versions ;  the  comparison  finds  its  explanation  in  the 
fact  that  the  wild-ass  is  considered  a  typical  example  of  shyness  and 
isolation,  cf.  Hos.  8.  9,  "  like  a  wild-ass  alone  by  himself."  Instead 
of  the  preposition  be  of  befa'olam,  7  Mss.,  Sym.  Targ.  and  Vulg.  read 
le,  though  be  may  be  equally  correct,  expressing  for  the  performance 


256  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

oj  their  labor,  cf.  I  Chron.  9.  33 ;  as  to  their  daily  labor,  cf .  Ps.  104.  23. 
They  must  hunt  the  desert  for  sustenance.  The  text  is  perfect: 
meshahare  is  potential  participle;  it  has  both  nominal  and  verbal 
rection,  'draba  being  construed  as  accusative-object.  As  to  the  con- 
struct case  used  with  a  prepositional  phrase,  cf.  the  similar  cases  18.  2, 
Is.  5.  11,  Ezek.  38.  11.  The  meaning  sustenance  of  teref  is  quite  com- 
mon, cf.  Mai.  3.  10,  Ps.  111.  5,  Prov.  31.  15.  There  is  no  harvest 
for  the  homeless  people.  Id  is  one  of  the  examples  of  the  negative 
written  with  w,  recognized  cases  of  this  spelling  being  I  Sam.  2.  16,  20. 
2.  In  ne'arim  we  have  the  same  substantive  na'ar  (derived  fron  na'ar 
•'  to  shake  off  ")  which  occurs  again  Zech.  11.  16  with  the  meaning 
"  scattered  ones  "  ;  the  meaning  of  the  word  here,  the  context  shows, 
is  homeless  people,  people  without  landed  property.  Finally,  lehein 
is  used  here  in  the  same  sense  in  which  it  is  found  28.  5,  Is.  28.  28,  30. 
23,  Ps.  104.  14,  "  grain,"  ''  produce." 

6  that  are  not  theirs :    belllo  is  a  composite  of  bell  and  Id,  and  was 
understood  as  such  by  all  the  versions,  so  that  there  is  no  ground  for 
questioning  this  plain  meaning  of  the  word ;  a  similar  composite  is 
bSllma,  26.  7  (cf.  also  minlam  15.  29) ;   the  singular  suffix  of  belllo,  ex- 
pressing (a  field)  that  is  not  the  possession  of  any  of  them,  is  excellent. 
The  vineyard  of  the  wicked.     The  emendation  of  rasha^  to  ^ashlr 
made  by  some  scholars  is  a  serious  mistake.    These  critics  miss  the 
very  essential  point  that  for  Job  the  rich  who  got  their  wealth  through 
exploitation  of  the  poor  were  the  wicked ;   note  that  in  21.  28  nadlhhy  I 
meaning  ''  nobleman,"  "  aristocrat,"  is  used  as  sjmonymous  to  rasha'. 
We  have  the  antithesis  to  this  in  the  use  of  the  phrase  'anaw  and  'anl,  | 
''poor,"  to  connote  "pious,"  properly  ''pious  sufferer"  —  a  use  pe- 
culiar to  postexilic  literature,  especially  the  Psalms.     This  viewpoint 
grew  out  of  the  preaching  of  the  prophets,  who  in  their  denunciation 
of  the  social  injustice  of  their  times  described  the  rich  as  the  un-  . 
righteous  oppressors  and  the  poor  as  the  innocent  sufferers ;  it  received  j 
its  most  emphatic  expression  in  the  utterance  of  Jesus,  "  I  say  unto  ' 
you,  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  a  needle's  eye  than  for  a 
rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."     In  this  connection  it 
may  be  in  place  to  mention  that  the  change  by  the  Masorites  of 
'anwe  to  'anije  in  v.  4,  and  in  many  other  places  of  the  Old  Test.i- 
ment  (and  vice  versa  the  change  of  'am  to  'anaw),  generally  consid- 
ered as  justified,  was  wholly  unwarranted.     Both  words  are  verbal  | 
adjectives  from  'ana,   "  to  be  in  bondage,"  and  accordingly  mean  i 
"poor,"  "lowly,"  then  "humble,"  "meek,"  both  in  the  ordinary) 
and  religious  sense  of  the  term,  finally,  as  just  stated,  "  pious  sufferer."  j 


NOTES  257 

Now,  whenever  in  a  language  there  are  two  word-forms  of  the  same 
derivation,  each  of  which  has  the  same  twofold  meaning,  the  tendency 
is  toward  differentiation,  that  is  to  say,  A  comes  in  the  course  of  time 
to  be  used  exclusively  with  one  of  the  two  meanings,  and  B  with  the 
other.  This  is  what  happened  in  the  case  of  'anl  and  ^anaw ;  'anl 
came  to  be  used  with  the  meaning  "  poor,"  "  lowly,"  and  'anaw  with 
that  of  "  humble,"  "  meek,"  "  pious  sufferer,"  but  not  until  the  time 
when  the  Old  Testament  canon  was  near  completion.  This  explains 
why  the  Masorites,  who  were  familiar  only  with  the  final  development 
in  the  meaning  of  the  two  words,  unwarrantedly  changed  'anaw  to 
*ani  when  used  with  the  meaning  "poor,"  and  'anl  to  'anaw  when 
used  with  the  meaning  "  meek,^'  or  "  pious  sufferer.'^ 

11  Shut  in  by  walls.  Of.  what  has  been  remarked  8.  17  in  regard  to 
the  use  of  ben  with  nominal  declension. 

13ff.  That  V.  13  must  originally  have  opened  vv.  12-17,  which  de- 
scribe the  desperate  doings  of  criminals,  is  clearly  shown  by  hema, 
There  are  still  others.  This  has  been  recognized  by  Budde  and  Hon- 
theim.  It  is  equally  evident,  to  my  mind,  that  v.  12  must  have  been  the 
original  conclusion  of  the  description ;  it  deyelops  in  a  few  vivid  strokes 
the  terrors  of  the  darkness  (with  which  v.  17  closes),  calling  before  our 
minds  the  bloody  picture  of  a  city  which  has  been  sacked  in  the  dead 
of  night  by  murderers  and  thieves.  Verse  15  does  not  seem  to  be 
an  original  part  of  the  description,  but  the  addition  of  a  later  editor. 
The  case  of  the  adulterer,  though  he  chooses  the  night  for  the  pursuit 
of  sin,  has  no  real  relation  with  the  case  of  the  professional  thief  and 
the  murderer  described  in  w.  12-17,  who  are  vigilant  and  at  work  while 
nature  and  society  are  given  over  to  rest,  and  seek  rest  while  everybody 
rises  to  his  daily  tasks.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  find  a  proper  place  for  this 
verse.  It  could  in  no  case  have  followed  v.  14,  v.  16  a  being  the  imme- 
diate continuation  of  v.  14  c.  Nor  could  it  be  inserted  in  any  other 
place  of  vv.  13-17,  12,  25  without  disturbing  their  sequence. 

14  In  the  dark.  Read,  as  Carey  and  many  others  correctly  emended, 
11X  XT'  (in  explanation  of  the  present  reading  cf.  20.  2) ;  the  phrase, 
which  forms  an  adverbial  accusative,  is  a  composite  like  lo'-darek,  12. 
24.1  And  the  thief  goeth  about  in  the  night.  Read,  as  Merx  in- 
geniously emended,  ^^J  ^  v!^'  —  an  emendation  generally  accepted. 
The  present  reading  is  due  partly  to  mistaken  word-division,  partly 
to  the  misreading  of  I  for  j. 

16,  17  They,  neither  of  them,  care  for  the  light.  Omit  kl,  as  dittog- 

1  See  note  to  12.  24  for  other  similar  composites. 


258  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

raphy  of  ki  of  17  h,  and  join  jahdaw  of  v.  17  to  v.  16.  Indeed,  they  , 
know  well,  tci  is  emphatic  ki ;  read  ^^'y  (Beer-K.),  jakkir  being  a  case  ' 
of  scriptio  defectiva  of  the  third  plural. 

12  the  dying.  Vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Syr.,  D'r^P,  as  Budde  and 
others  have  correctly  emended.  Taketh  no  umbrage  :  see  remarks  on 
1.  22. 

25  And  since  he  doth  not.     Note  that  in  the  parallel  case  Hm  ken 
'efo,  Gen.  43.  11,  'im  with  the  emphasizing  'efo  emphatically  affii'ms   i 
the  preceding  statement,  meaning  "this  being  the  case  " ;  used  as  here  I 
with  the  negative,  emphatic  negation  is  expressed. 

Verses  19,  20,  and  24  belong  to  ch.  25. 

Verse  21,  ro'oeh  of  which,  as  Greek  and  Targ.  show,  is  mistaken 
reading  for  hera'  (due  to  transposition  of  r)  makes  the  impression  that 
it  was  originally  added  as  a  marginal  comment  to  20.  19.  This  con- 
clusion receives  additional  weight  from  the  fact  that  24.  22  a  of  Gk., 
OvfXi^  Se  Karia-rpcxpev  dSuvarovs,  is  a  variant  of  20.  19  <2. 

As  to  the  last  clause  of  24.  22,  where  3  Mss.  Gk.  Sym.  Vulg.  read 
hehajjaw,  no  positive  conclusion  can  be  arrived  at.  I  should  be  inclined 
to  consider  it  a  remnant  in  Hebrew  of  v.  23  as  read  in  Gk.,  to  which 
there  is  otherwise  nothing  corresponding  in  Heb.,  "  When  he  is  sick 
let  him  not  hope  that  he  will  be  healed,  he  will  succumb  m  his  sick- 
ness" — a  reading  about  which  notliing  further  can  be  said  than  that  it 
makes  the  impression  of  having  belonged  to  the  speech  of  Elihu,  ch. 
33.^    It  is  also  possible  that  24.  22  c  belonged  originally  to  30.  2. 

XXX.  2-8.  The  close  resemblance  of  these  verses  to  24.  5-11  will  be 
noticed  at  a  glance.  Like  these,  they  describe  the  famished  and  home- 
less poor,  who  without  fixed  abiding  place  must  huddle  together  for 
warmth  in  hovels  and  caves,  or  under  nettles  and  shrubs,  and  who  must 
scour  the  barren  desert  for  salt-wort  and  the  roots  of  the  broom-shrul), 
with  which  to  sustain  their  miserable  bodies.  The  fact  that,  as  in  24. 
5-11,  the  writer  describes  their  privations  -with  so  much  feeling  ex- 
cludes that  they  could  have  followed  30.  1,  since  the  reference  in  this 
verse  to  "  the  low  people  "  is  in  quite  a  different  vem.  But  while 
30.  2-8  is  in  thought  closely  related  to  24.  5-11,  it  is  from  a  literary 
point  of  view  decidedly  inferior  to  these  verses.  And  since  moreover 
24.  5-11  is  in  itself  complete,  it  follows  that  30.  2-8  must  either  be  an- 
other version  of  these,  perhaps  the  original  draft,  or  an  addition  by 
another  writer.  External  evidence  that  30.  2-8  stood  at  one  time  in 
ch.  24  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  Gk.  24.  12  a  ol  [om.  Cod.  A]  ck 

*  Note  that  Gk.  24.  14  a  belonged  originally  to  34.  25. 


NOTES  259 

woAews  KOL  otKCDv  ISiOiv  i^c/SdWovTo  is,  with  omission  of  TroXews  kol,  a 
variant  of  Heb.  SO.  5a;  it  was  evidently  left  in  ch.  24  (in  the  Hebrew 
copy  of  the  Greek)  when  the  rest  of  the  verses  became  placed  after 
30.  1.  This  conclusion  receives  additional  weight  from  the  fact  that 
30.  5  a  of  Heb.  is  missing  in  Gk.  In  ck  oI'kwv  iScoiv  we  have  the  original 
reading  of  the  corrupt  gew  of  Heb.  30.  5 ;  ttoAcws  km  is  due  to  the 
contamination  of  the  variant  with  the  first  phrase,  me'ir,  of  24.  12  a 
of  Heb. 

XXX.  2  is  hopelessly  corrupt ;  the  versions  furnish  no  basis  for 
emendation. 

XXII.  1,  3-16;  XXVII.  13-21,  23;  XXII.  19-30. 

For  synopsis  see  p.  54,  see  also  the  conclusion  of  synopsis  of  ch.  20, 
and  the  remarks  on  27.  23,  22.  19f. 

XXII .  2.  The  present  Hebrew  of  the  verse  is  not  the  original  reading. 
Instead  of  jiskon  of  v.  2  a  the  original  text  read  ^3Dl  (Aramaic  spelling 
for  ^Dii^')  as  is  shown  by  Targ.  je'alef.  The  half  verse,  which  means 
"Can  man  teach  God  insight?  "  is  both  in  Targ.  and  in  the  Heb.  (as 
emended  in  accordance  with  Targ.)  a  variant  of  21.  22  a.  This  is 
borne  out  by  the  fact  that  also  in  Gk.  v.  2  a  is  a  verbatim  repetition 
of  21.  22  a  as  read  in  Gk.,  and  is  also  supported  by  the  variant  da^ath 
for  geber  of  Ms.  Ken.  18.^  Note  that  Vulg.  and  Syr.  did  not  read  the 
half  verse.  The  second  half  verse,  of  which  jiskon  ^al  is  impossible 
Hebrew,  presents  a  still  more  interesting  case.  The  half  verse  was 
not  read  by  the  original  Greek,  and  its  rendering  by  Aq.  or  Theod. 
KaTacrKy]V(x)<T€L  €<\>  v/xa?  (xvvemv  is  a  mere  makeshift.  It  is  the  mere 
fragment  of  a  text  of  which  the  original  reading  has  in  all  probability 
been  preserved  either  by  Vulg.  or  by  Syr.  Verse  2  in  the  former  reads, 
Numquid  Deo  potest  compart  homo,  etiam  cum  perfectae  fuerit  scientiae, 
and  in  the  latter,  dilema^  'am  'aldha'  'dmer  'ant  gabrd'  da'nt  'eshtawU 
'ameh  behekmMthd.  The  close  relation  of  these,  particularly  of  the  latter, 
to  Vulg.  15.  3  a  (not  found  anywhere  else),  Arguis  verbis  eum  qui  non 
est  equalis  tibi,  will  be  noticed  at  once.  And  since  the  thought  expressed 
in  Vulg.  15.  3  <2  and  in  its  parallel  and  supplementary  parts,  Vulg.  and 
Syr.  22.  2,  is  clearly  a  reply  to  Job's  declaration,  13.  3,  "  Yet  I  will 
speak  out  unto  the  Almighty,  I  desire  to  plead  my  case  before  God," 
it  follows  that  the  original  place  of  all  three  of  them  must  have  been  in 
Eliphaz'  speech  ch.  15,  not  here  in  ch.  22.     It  should  be  added  that  the 

1  With  jaskll  da'ath  cf.  haskil  blna,  Dan.  9.  22,  and  as  to  jaskil  by  itself 
meaning  "teach  insight,"  cf.  Neh.  9.  20. 


260  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

reading  of  22.3  in  Vulg.  and  of  v.  3  6  in  Syr.  (3  a  is  missing)  is  identical 
with  that  of  Heb. 

4  thy  fear  of  Him.    As  in  15.  4,  jir^ath  is  ellipsis  iorjir.  'elohlm. 

9  thou  hast  crushed.  Read,  in  accordance  with  all  the  versions, 
^^1^  —  a  widely  accepted  emendation. 

11  Thy  light  hath  grown  dark.  In  accordance  with  Gk.,  read 
•jE^n  p'lN,  as  Merx  and  others  have  emended. 

12  the  starry  dome,  ro'sh  kokdlnm  means  neither  "  height  of  stars," 
nor  "  the  highest  star,"  but  kokahlm  is  descriptive  genitive,  and  ro'sh, 
like  polus  in  Latin  and  Greek,  means,  in  the  first  place,  the  vertex  or 
axis  of  the  (celestial)  sphere,  then  the  sphere  which  revolves  on  this  axis, 
i.e.,  the  vault  or  dome  of  heaven;  cf.  the  parallel  Greek  phrase  ao-rpojv 
TToXos,  Eur.  Or.  1685. 

13,  14.    Verse  14  is  Eliphaz'  sarcastic  comment  to  Job's  question  in 

21.  22,  paraphrased  in  v.  13. 

16  before  their  time.  Read,  in  accordance  with  20  Mss.  and  Targ., 
i<*^|  (Beer-K.).  Under  whose  feet  the  ground  floweth  away  as  swiftly 
as  a  stream :  jiisaq  is  a  case  of  zeugma,  being  predicative  to  both 
j^sodam  and  the  accusative  of  comparison  nahar. 

17-18.     See  21.  15-16. 

XXVII.  13ff.  That  ch.  27  belongs  partly  to  a  speech  of  Job's,  partly 
to  one  by  one  of  the  friends,  is  widely  conceded,  though  the  majority 
of  scholars  have  failed  to  divide  the  parts  correctlj''.  Ley  and  Laue 
have  recognized  that  not  merely  vv.  2-6  but  w.  2-12  belong  to  the 
speech  of  Job,  but  none  of  the  critics  has  correctly  placed  vv.  13-23. 
Ley  and  Laue  consider  them  another  fragment  of  Bildad's  speech, 
ch.  25 ;  the  rest  take  them  (along  with  w.  7-12)  for  the  third  speech 
of  Zophar,  failing  to  see  that  it  was  part  of  the  writer's  dramatic  plan 
to  leave  Zophar  without  a  third  speech.    27.  13-23,  when  read  after 

22.  16,  forms  a  logical  supplement  to  the  preceding  and  following  verses 
of  Eliphaz'  speech,  ch.  22.  Note,  in  particular,  what  an  excellent  con- 
tinuation 22.  19f.  makes  to  27.  23. 

13  meted  out  ...  by  God.  Read,  in  accordance  with  20.  29,  ^^^  ; 
the  present  reading  Hm,  as  Beer-K.  suggests,  is  probably  due  to  dittog- 
raphy  of  the  last  letter  of  the  preceding  word.  Which  the  tyrant 
receiveth.  Read,  as  Budde  and  others  correctly  emend,  singular 
'aris  and  jiqqah;  the  plural  'arislm  is  due  to  dittography  of  the  first 
letter  of  the  following  word,  and  jiqqahU  is  subsequent  adaptation. 

15  as  victims  of  the  plague.  As  often  elsewhere,  mawet  denotes  the 
plague;  be  is  M  essentiae.  their  widows.  Read,  in  accordance  with 
Gk.,  Syr.,  plural  suffix  almenotham. 


NOTES  261 

16, 17.  Note  that  malbush  of  v.  16  6  is  a  case  of  brachylogy,  being  the 
object  also  of  the  verbs  of  v.  17  a. 

18  as  frail  as  a  spider-web.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Syr., 
W':}2:?D,  which  is  unquestionably  the  original;  band  and  beth  are  cases 
of  brachylogy. 

19  Will  not  do  it  again.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  Syr.,  ^'0)\ 
as  generally  emended. 

22.    See20.  23f. 

23  People  will  clap  their  hands,  etc.  The  third  sing,  of  both  verbs 
of  the  verse  is  used  impersonally  and  requires  no  emendation.  Note 
that  Eliphaz  here  describes,  with  evident  satisfaction,  the  precise 
humiliation  to  which  Job  complains  he  had  to  submit,  cf.  30.  9,  1.  In 
22.  19-20  we  find  him  gloating,  even  more  openly,  over  the  downfall 
of  the  mighty  man,  that  is  Job  (cf.  22.  8). 

XXII.  21  Thereby  good  will  come  unto  thee.  Read,  as  several 
critics  have  rightly  emended,  ;1^^^^. 

23  and  humble  thyself.  Instead  of  tibbarm,  read,  in  accordance 
with  Gk.,  V^-^^  (Merx  and  many  others),  which  forms  a  circumstantial 
clause  to  tashub. 

22  glittering  silver  bars  or  heaps  of  silver. 

29  He  that  humbleth  himself  will  be  exalted.  The  Hebrew  of  29  a 
does  not  admit  of  translation.  I  have  substituted  for  it  the  reading 
of  Syr.  and  Vulg.,  which  is  doubtless  the  original,  will  be  saved. 
Vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Vulg.  and  Syr.,  }im'.  (Beer-K.). 

30  The  innocent  man.  '«  is  abbreviation  of  ^"^,  and  was  in  fact  so 
read  by  Targ.  of  his  hands.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Vulg.,  Syr., 
V2D  (Beer-K.). 

XXVII.  1-12;  XXIII.  3-7, 10-12;  XXIX.  12-17;  XXX.  25;  XXXI. 

Obviously,  chs.  27.  1-12  and  31,  with  the  parts  from  chs.  29  and  23 
which  belong  to  them,  must  originally  have  followed  Eliphaz'  speech, 
chs.  22  and  27. 13-23 ;  they  are  the  logical  answer  of  Job  to  the  baseless 
charges  made  against  him  by  Eliphaz.  Whether  the  parts  as  rear- 
ranged constitute,  as  I  am  satisfied  they  do,  a  fairly  well-connected 
whole,  and  whether  this  rearrangement  may  be  accepted  as  approxi- 
mating the  original  sequence  left  by  the  author,  I  must  leave  it  to  the 
reader  to  judge  for  himself.  —  For  the  general  interpretation  of  the 
speech  see  pp.  54-58. 

XXVII.  1  Job  answered  and  said.  The  present  form  of  the  verse 
is  due  to  a  later  redactor. 


262  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

8  If  God  were  to  cut  off,  if  He  were  to  pluck  out  his  life.  As  shown 
by  6.  9,  jibsa'  is  mistaken  vocalization  for  V'^y  ;  'eloha  and  nafsho  of 
the  following  clause  are  to  be  construed  as  subject  and  object  also 
with  jebassa' ;  for  the  explanation  of  the  phrase  see  comment  on  4.  21. 

XXXI.  2  What  fellowship  hath  he  with  God  on  high,  what  com- 
munion with  the  Almighty,  etc.  Heleq  and  nahlath  have  here  not  the 
meaning  "  portion  "  and  ^'  award,"  which  they  have  in  27.  13,  but,  as 
often  elsewhere,  that  of  fellowship,  communion  (cf.  Josh,  22.  25, 1  Sam. 
26.  19,  II  Sam.  20.  1,  Ps.  73.  26,  142.  6) ;  'eloha  and  shaddaj  are  objec- 
tive genitives,  just  as  in  the  pa^rallel  plirase  nahlath  jhwh,  I  Sam.  26. 
19.  As  the  genitive  ^eloha  or  shaddaj  of  this  verse  is  to  be  construed 
also  as  subjective  case  with  v.  3,  being  a  case  of  brachylogy,  so  the 
genitive  hanef  of  27.  8  is  to  be  construed  as  subject  with  31.  2. 

3  a  terror  for  the  wicked  ...  a  dread  for,  'ed,  which  in  30.  12  de- 
notes "  sinister,"  signifies  here  menace,  terror  which  is  also  the  meaning 
of  neker;  note  that  Arab,  nakrd'u  means  "  adverse,"  "  hostile,"  "  hate- 
ful," and  that  not  only  Assjt.  nakaru,  but  also  Heb.  nekar,  nakn 
may  mean  "  enemy,"  cf.  Ps.  137.  4,  144.  7,  Lam.  5.  2. 

XXVII.  Ill  can  show  you  who  is  in  the  hand  of  God.  hejad  jhwh 
can  mean  neither  ''  concerning  the  hand  of  God,"  nor  "  liber  Gottes 
Tun."  On  the  ground  of  Gk.  rt  and  also  of  the  parallelism,  it  may  be 
deduced  that  the  original  text  read  '?  before  hejad;  ml  was  probably 
written  without  j  (cf.  micajhu,  Jer.  36.  11),  which  would  explain  its  be- 
ing misread  ma  by  Gk.,  while  its  omission  in  Heb.  may  have  been 
caused  by  the  final  m  of  the  preceding  word.  In  the  presence  of  the 
Almighty,  cf.  I  Sam.  2.  21,  Ps.  73.  25,  where  Hm  is  used  with  a  similar 
meaning.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  —  it  is  so  obvious  —  that 
by  Who  is  in  the  hand  of  God  .  .  .  who  liveth  in  the  presence  of  the 
Almighty  Job  means  himself. 

12  Verily,  all  of  you  behold  him.  ^asher  of  v.  11  is  object  of  hdzithem, 
SL  case  of  brachylogy. 

XXIII.  12  I  have  not  departed  from  the  command.  In  accordance 
with  Gk.  and  Vulg.  read  m^nr?  (Merx  and  others).  i  of  ^^i  is  quite  in 
order ;  cf.  Gen.  40.  9,  I  Ki.  13.  31,  Prov.  24.  27.  in  my  bosom.  Read, 
in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Vulg.,  'pn|  —  a  commonly  accepted 
emendation. 

XXXI.  1  I  have  never  looked.  As  in  16.  6,  ma  is  used  as  a  negative 
particle. 

XXIX.  12  from  the  hand  of  the  tyrant.  Instead  of  meshawwe'a  vocal- 
ize, in  accordance  with  Gk.,  >!''^?.  Additional  proof  for  this  reading  is 
furnished  by  the  fact  that  also  in  the  parallel,  Ps.  72.  12,  where  Hebrew 


NOTES  263 

has  the  mistaken  vocaHzation  meshawwe'd,  Gk.  Syr.  and  Viilg.  have  all 
three  preserved  the  original  reading  mishsho'd ;  the  latter  is  evidently 
used  by  our  author  with  the  same  connotation  as  nadib,  21.  28  (see 
remarks  to  24.  6).  Who  had  no  protection.  Omit  ^  of  welo\  That 
lo'  is  the  original  reading  is  shown  not  only  by  11  Mss.,  Gk.  Syr.  and 
Vulg.,  but  also  by  the  variant  30.  13  c  of  Heb.  (missing  in  Gk.),  which 
was  originally  added  as  a  correction  in  the  margin,  and  later  wrongly 
inserted  in  30.  13.  Note  that  also  in  Ps.  72.  12  neither  Gk.  nor  Syr. 
and  Vulg.  read  w  of  w'en.  ^ 

XXXI.  18  I  brought  him  up  as  a  father  would.  The  objective  suffix 
of  gedelani  is  not  direct  but  indirect  object ;  for  similar  cases  cf .  Is.  44, 
21  Zech.  7.  5,  Ps.  5.  5,  85.  4.  I  have  rendered  the  clause  in  accordance 
with  the  sense ;  the  rendering  according  to  the  construction  is  He  grew 
up  under  me  as  under  a  father.  I  guided  him.  The  fern,  suffix  of 
'anhennah  is  grammatically  untenable,  even  in  the  present  position 
of  the  verse  —  that  it  should  refer  back  to  "  widow  "  of  v.  16  would  be 
contrary  to  usage  and  logic.  It  must  be  a  scribal  mistake  for  original 
ir,  caused  by  mimennah  with  which  the  preceding  verse  ends. 

32  for  the  wayfarer.  The  participle  form  'orah  seems  to  me  per- 
fectly in  order,  cf.  e.g.  nota'. 

XXXI.  5ff.  An  oath  in  ancient  times  was  invariably  an  impreca- 
tion. The  person  that  took  an  oath  called  down  the  curse  of  God  upon 
his  head  if  he  were  not  speaking  the  truth,  or  if  he  should  ever  violate 
his  promise,  as  the  case  might  be.  Job's  oath  in  this  chapter  is  the 
most  complete  example  of  an  oath  that  we  have  in  the  Old  Testament. 
In  fact  there  are  only  two  other  examples  of  a  real  oath,  Ps.  7.  5-6,  and 
137.  5-6.  In  every  other  instance  where  there  is  question  of  an  oath, 
the  curse  is  suppressed,  and  only  the  non-committal  phrase,  "  May 
God  do  so  unto  me,  and  still  more,"  is  retained,  though  as  a  rule  even 
this  is  omitted.  The  explanation  of  the  avoidance  of  the  real  oath  is 
to  be  found  in  the  sinister  power  which  was  universally  believed  to  ad- 
here in  a  curse.  The  people  refrained  from  using  a  curse  even  for 
literary  purposes,  so  great  was  the  fear  that  it  might  take  effect  even 
though  pronounced  without  design. 

11  12  a  a  heinous  sin.  A  goodly  number  of  Mss.  and  Vulg.,  Targ., 
and  Syr  read  '^'^^,  as  in  v.  28 ;  the  word  is  explained  in  both  verses 
by  Vulg.  "  flagrant,"  and  by  Targ.  and  Syr.,  "  manifest."  The  read- 
ing M'  is  perfect,  the  contents  of  v.  9  being  the  subject,  but  the  text 
most  likely  read  hi'  only  once ;  the  second  hV  was  primarily  marginal 
correction  for  hu\  and  was  wrongly  inserted  before  'awon,  instead  of 
being  substituted  for  hu\    The  repetition  of  hV  is  stylistically  objec 


264  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

tionable,  Vulg.  does  not  seem  to  have  read  the  second  hi' ;  omit  it  and 
read  we'awon.  V.  11  with  v.  12  a  formed  originally  a  couplet;  omit 
ki  of  12  a,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Vulg. 

12  b  Let  all  the  growth  of  it  be  rooted  out.  In  accordance  with  Vulg., 
et  omnia  genimma,  read  nr>«un  Sji,  though  the  suffix  of  the  first 
sing,  would  make  satisfactory  sense  too,  and  in  accordance  with  Syr. 
neth'aqrdn,  vocalize  i^lii^^. 

15  Did  not  One  God  fashion  us  both  in  the  womb?  Read,  in 
accordance  with  Gk.  Syr.  and  Targ.,  either  ^JJ^;!  or  wajkonenenu 
(Budde  and  others) ;   'ehad,  "  One  God,"  occurs  again  Mai.  2.  15. 

16  Aught  for  which  they  prayed.  The  preposition  min  of  mehefes 
is  partitive  min. 

26,  27.  In  putting  these  verses  into  English  I  have  departed  from 
their  order  in  Hebrew  in  order  to  make  the  translation  more  satisfac- 
tory. Job's  denial  in  these  verses  that  he  has  ever  been  swayed  by  the 
belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  two  luminaries,  finds  its  explanation  in  the 
lure  which  this  particular  belief  exercised  throughout  antiquity  even 
over  the  minds  of  enlightened  men. 

31  Even  when  the  inmates  of  my  tent  said.  Omit,  in  accordance 
with  Gk.,  «'?,  which  is  doubtless  due  to  dittography  of  Id'  at  the  be- 
ginning of  V.  30.     As  to  31  h,  see  the  remarks  on  19.  22. 

33,  34  As  men  are  wont  to  do.  This  meaning  of  ke'adam  (collective 
substantive)  admits  of  no  doubt,  in  view  of  the  accusative  of  compari- 
son 'enosh,  "  as  man  seeth,"  10.  4.  If  I  sought  to  conceal  iniquity 
in  my  bosom.  33  b  is  coordinate  with  33  a,  litmon  being  emphatic 
infinitive ;  hob  is  not  an  Aram,  loan-word,  but  a  common  Semitic  word, 
to  which  in  Syr.  'uba,  and  in  vulgar  Arab,  ^ubb  corresponds,  while  in 
Palest.  Aram,  both  the  form  with  Heth  and  that  with  'Ain  occur.  It 
is  derived  from  the  common  Semitic  verb  habab,  "  to  love."  Truly, 
I  should  have  to  dread,  etc.  The  prevailing  interpretation  of  the  two 
verses  fails  to  recognize  their  grammatical  construction.  V.  34  is  not 
coordinate  with  v.  33,  but  is  its  apodosis ;  as  to  the  emphatic  kl  of  the 
latter,  compare  the  frequent  use  of  the  emphatic  particle  hinne  in  the 
apodosis  of  conditional  sentences,  as  e.g.  Exod.  7.  27,  9.  2-3,  Nu.  32. 
23,  Ps.  73  15.  With  I  should  have  to  be  silent,  etc.  cf.  13.  19.  Job 
could  not  have  more  fittingly  concluded  the  specifications  of  the  oath 
than  by  v.  33.  He  says  in  effect,  to  sum  up,  if  I  had  really  lived  the 
life  of  a  hypocrite,  as  you  imply,  then  truly  I  should  be  so  filled  with 
the  consciousness  of  my  shame,  that  I  should  dread  to  show  my  face. 

14,  23  Verily,  the  fear  of  God  would  overcome  me.     Read,  in  accord- 


NOTES  265 

ance  with  Gk.,  <^oj8os  Kvpiov  ^  avvia-xev  fie,  ^h^  HJnx^  Sx  .'3,  as 
Duhm  and  others  have  correctly  emended.  As  stated  in  connec- 
tion with  13.  11  se'etho  does  not  mean  *'  his  excellency/'  but  His 
appearance  or  the  apparition.  Like  13.  11,  19.  25ff.,  the  verses  an- 
ticipate God's  final  apparition  amidst  the  storm  —  a  scene  which  is 
based  on  the  primitive  notion  that  the  thmiderstorm  is  the  foremost 
manifestation  of  Yahweh.  This  notion  sufficiently  explains  the  mean- 
ing of  se'eth,  as  used  in  this  connection.  Because  of  its  appeal  to  the 
imagination,  the  notion  was  a  favored  one  with  Biblical  writers  describ- 
ing revelations  of  God ;  cf .  the  description,  Exod.  19. 16,  of  the  revela- 
tion on  Mt.  Sinai,  Ezekiel's  vision,  Ezek.  1,  Is.  30.  27,  and  Ps.  18.  7-16, 
the  latter  being  the  most  elaborate  description  of  the  kind  that  we  have. 
Note  what  an  effective  transition  w.  14,  23  form  to  the  concluding 
part  of  the  speech  and  the  note  of  triumph  sounded  in  it. 

XXIII.  6  Oh,  if  He  would  only  pay  heed  unto  me.  Vocalize  8<S,  as 
Budde  has  correctly  emended,  jasim  is  ellipsis  ior  jaslm  libho ;  the 
elliptical  expression  was  no  doubt  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding 
what  would  be  an  odd  anthropomorphism. 

7  And  I  should  forever  obtain  my  right.  Vocalize,  in  accordance 
with  8  Mss.,  Gk.  Syr.  Vulg.,  'p3^P,  as  Duhm  and  others  have  rightly 
emended.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  original  reading, 
since  pallet  cannot  possibly  be  intransitive. 

10  my  ways  and  my  conduct.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Syr., 
"IP-^'l  '-?1^j  as  has  been  repeatedly  emended. 

XXXI.  35  Would  that  He  might  hear  me !  Omit  the  first  ll  as  dit- 
tography,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Syr.  (Beer-K.).  I  stake  my  life 
on  it.  tawi  does  not  mean  "  my  mark,"  or  "  my  signature,"  as  generally 
translated,  but  is  a  case  of  ideogrammatic  wiiting  for  what  may  ac- 
curately be  expressed  by  /  stake  my  life  on  it.  In  proof  of  this  it  may 
be  pointed  out  that  the  old  Semitic  form  of  the  letter  taw  is  the  hieratic 
character  of  the  Egyptian  ideograph  j  'nh  which  signifies  '^  life,"  and 
that  for  more  than  a  century  after  the  use  and  knowledge  of  the  hier- 
oglyphics had  died  out,  this  ideograph  was  still  generally  understood, 
as  is  shown  by  its  frequent  occurrence  in  amulets  written  in  Greek.^ 
Proof  of  the  common  use  of  the  ideograph  in  Israel  also,  as  early  as 
Ezekiel's  time,  is  found  in  Ezek.  9.  4,  6,  where  the  prophet  tells  of  the 
order  that  was  given  to  the  executioner  of  judgment  to  mark  with  a 
taio  the  foreheads  of  the  faithful  in  Jerusalem  who  were  to  be  saved 

1  As  Codd.  SAC,  Sah.  Boh.  S^^  Hie.  read. 

2  Cf.  Schulze,  Archaeologie  der  Altchristlichen  Kunst,  p.  262,  G.  Ebers, 
Sinnhildliches  (1892),  p.  8,  J.  Leipoldt,  Schenute  (1903),  p.  29,  note  3. 


266  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

from  the  slaughter.  And  there  is  ample  proof  that  the  ideographic 
meaning  of  taw  continued  to  be  understood  down  to  New  Testament 
times,  and  even  much  later,  among  Jews  as  well  as  among  Christians. 
But  the  material  substantiating  this  in  New  Testament  literature  (the 
canonical  and  apocryphal  alike)  and  in  Talmudic  and  Neo-Hebraic 
apocalyptic  literature  is  too  copious  to  be  taken  up  here  for  discussion. 
36  The  bill  of  indictment  that  my  opponent  hath  preferred  is  a  clear 
reference  to  the  charges  made  by  Eliphaz  in  liis  previous  speech. 

Chapter    XXV    and    its    Constituent   Parts    from    Chapters 
XXXIV-XXXVII  AND  XXIV 

Helen  H.  Nichols,  The  Composition  of  the  Elihu  Speeches 
(in  AJSL.,  XXVn,  1011,  pp.  97fF.),  with  critical  discernment 
has  noticed  that  the  so-called  Elihu  speeches  are  not  a  uniform, 
but  a  composite  product.  Miss  Nichols,  however,  is  far  afield 
in  the  conclusion  which  she  draws  from  this  fact,  that  these 
speeches  represent  additions  to  Job  by  two  "Wise  Men,"  the 
first  addition,  which  became  interwoven  in  36.  26-37.  13  "with 
a  Psalm  of  a  Thunderstorm,"  comprising  chs.  32.  6-10,  18-22, 
33.  35.  2-14,  36.-37.,  and  the  second,  chs.  32.  11-16  and  34. 
The  composite  character  of  these  speeches  is  a  consequence  of 
the  text-disorder  which  the  second  part  of  Job  indubitably 
suffered.  On  the  cause  of  this  text-disorder  it  would  be  futile 
to  speculate,  but  as  a  result  of  it  the  last  speech  of  Bildad  (in 
reality  quite  a  long  one),  with  the  exception  of  some  eight  verses, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  concluding  speech  of  Job  becam.e  mixed 
up  with  each  other  and  with  what  I  may  call  the  Elihu  interpola- 
tion, originally  composed  of  chs.  32-33  and  a  few  verses  scat- 
tered through  chs.  34-36.  The  resultant  jumble  was  repre- 
sented to  be  all  by  Elihu ;  it  was  given  the  appearance  of  form- 
ing successive  discourses,  each  purporting  to  be  a  speech  by 
Elihu.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  least  in  the  case  of  one 
verse,  37.  23,  there  is  direct  evidence  that  it  belonged  to  a  Job- 
speech.  The  evidence  is  contained  in  33.  13  of  the  original 
Elihu  interpolation,  where  the  statement  expressed  in  37.  23 


NOTES  267 

is  referred  to  by  Elihu  as  a  statement  made  by  Job.  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  such  a  small  portion  is  interpolated  matter, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  defenders  of  the  Elihu  chapters  as  they 
have  come  down  to  us,  Budde  in  particular,^  point  to  their 
linguistic  character  as  a  weighty  argument  in  favor  of  their 
genuineness.  Whether  the  various  parts  I  have  recovered  from 
the  Elihu  speeches  and  rearranged  with  chs.  25.  24.  19-20 
and  chs.  23.  2,  8f.,  13-17,  26.  28.,  respectively,  really  constitute 
with  these  in  each  case  a  well-defined,  uniform  whole,  and 
whether  by  this  rearrangement  the  Book  of  Job  really  stands 
out,  as  I  believe  it  does,  immeasurably  enhanced  as  a  work  of 
literary  art,  I  must  leave  it  to  the  critical  reader  to  judge  for 
himself. 

As  to  the  speech  of  Bildad,  a  brief  analysis  of  it  will  best  show 
that  it  is  not  merely  a  genuine  part  of  the  Book  of  Job,  but  that 
it  is  an  indisputable  piece  of  the  reasoning  of  the  friends.  The 
speech  opens  in  35.  2  with  a  clear  reference  to  Job's  triumphant 
declaration  in  the  concluding  part  of  his  previous  speech  that, 
when  God  appears  in  answer  to  his  prayer,  it  will  be  to 
acknowledge  his  integrity.  Equally  plain  is  the  reference,  34. 
10  6-12,  36.  23,  to  Job's  passionate  protestation  in  the  opening 
of  his  speech  that  God  has  robbed  him  of  his  right.  Again, 
in  34.  17,  as  read  by  the  Greek,  "Surely,  thou  dost  not  think 
thou  art  forever  righteous,  because  thou  hatest  iniquity  and 
destroyest  the  wicked,"  the  reference  to  Job's  account  of  his 
righteous  life,  in  29.  14-17,  12  is  unmistakable.  Bildad's 
speech,  however,  is  not  only  a  reply  to  the  immediately  pre- 
ceding speech  of  Job,  but  also  to  his  speech  chs.  21.  24.  It  fills 
a  well-defined  gap.  It  would  be  inconceivable  that  the  friends 
should  leave  unanswered  Job's  scathing  arraignment  of  the 
social  order  permitted  by  God.  In  having  Bildad  reply  to  chs. 
21.  24,  the  writer  makes  a  fine  psychological  point.  Eliphaz, 
dumbfounded  by  Job's  revelations,  as  Job  had  said  he  would 
1  Beitrage  z.  Ivritik  des  Buches  Hiob. 


268  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

be  (21.  5f.),  could  find  no  word  to  refute  them;  he  could  only 
give  vent  to  his  wrath  by  defaming  Job's  character.  Bildad, 
although  equally  shocked,  has,  by  the  time  his  turn  has  come 
around,  sufficiently  recovered  to  reply  to  Job's  speech  chs.  21. 
24,  though  he  does  this  with  the  same  threadbare  arguments 
to  which  the  friends  have  resorted  all  along.  He  grants  that 
God  may  at  times  "  set  up  a  godless  man  as  ruler  "  —  but  only 
as  a  scourge  to  the  wayward  people ;  and  such  a  rule,  he  affirms, 
will  invariably  come  to  a  sudden,  appalling  end.  With  the  same 
assurance  he  declares,  in  answer  to  Job's  claim  (24.  12),  that 
God  hears  the  cry  of  the  oppressed  poor  "when  they  make 
supplication  to  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  the  tyrant." 
Verses  35.  3,  6-8  of  the  introduction  of  this  part  of  the  speech 
is  a  variation  of  22.  3f.  of  Eliphaz's  speech,  the  variation  being 
the  natural  result  of  the  fact  that  Bildad's  reference  to  chs.  21. 
24  is  combined  with  one  to  chs.  27ff.  Similarly  in  the  conclud- 
ing verses  of  this  part,  35.  14,  34.  23,  29,  the  reference  to  24.  1 
is  combined  with  one  to  23.  3ff.,  31.  35ff.,  where  Job  prays  for 
the  opportunity  to  plead  his  cause  before  God.  Bildad's 
description,  in  the  second  part  of  his  speech,  of  the  wicked  who, 
though  chastened,  heed  not  God's  warning,  is  plainly  aimed  at 
Job,  just  as  were  the  friends'  pictures  of  the  ruin  of  the  wicked 
man  in  the  second  cycle  of  speeches.  "They  die  in  youth, 
their  life  perisheth  among  the  unclean"  is  an  allusion  to  Job's 
being  stricken  with  leprosy  in  the  prime  of  life.  Not  satisfied 
with  these  covert  hints,  Bildad,  like  Eliphaz  in  22.  8-10,  ac- 
cuses Job  outright  of  being  a  sinner,  and  adds  with  undisguised 
malice,  "  Now  thou  hast  thy  fill  of  the  judgment  that  pursueth 
the  wicked.  Just  judgment  hath  laid  hold  of  thee."  Likewise 
the  last  part  of  the  speech  shows  all  the  marks  and  signs  which 
characterize  the  reasoning  and  method  of  the  friends  through- 
out. Thus  Bildad  in  his  conclusion  elaborates  what  Eliphaz 
and  Zophar  said  in  their  first  speeches  about  the  inscrutable 
wisdom  of  God,  and  enunciates  again  the  view  of  human  im- 


NOTES  269 

perfection  advanced  at  the  outset  by  Eliphaz,  as  the  positive 
solution  of  the  problem  of  suffering. 

XXXV.  2.  Verse  2  a  is  to  be  construed  also  with  v.  3 ;  it  forms  a 
sort  of  zeugma,  the  second  objective  clause  altering  its  meaning  from 
consider  it  a  proof  of  innocence  to  think  it  right ;  as  to  the  first-men- 
tioned signification  of  mishpat,  cf.  its  meaning  "a  just  case,"  13.  18. 
I  will  be  found  righteous  before  God :  sidql,  which,  as  in  6.  29,  is 
verbal  noun,  is  used  in  a  passive  sense ;  min  is  used  in  the  same  sense 
as  in  4.  17. 

3  me.  Instead  of  lak,  read  '',  as  a  number  of  scholars  have  rightly- 
emended  on  the  ground  of  the  parallelism.  That  I  have  not  sinned : 
me  is  min  privativum. 

6  What  injury  cause  st  thou  Him.  It  is  the  preposition  be  that 
gives  tif'al  this  meaning. 

XXXIV.  10  to  do  wickedness,  from  the  Almighty,  to  work  unright- 
eousness. Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  aae^yjcraL  koI  havri,  '1^  {^ 
J!'^"?^,  and  in  accordance  with  the  paraphrastic  rapd^at  to  hUaiov,  n^J>.f 
as  several  scholars  rightly  emended. 

11  Nay :  hi  is  here  emphatic  particle ;  the  meaning  nay  follows  from 
halila,  far  be  it,  which  is  virtually  a  negation. 

12  God  condemneth  not  wrongly.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Vulg., 
non  condemnabit  frustra,  D^n  after  jarshi'd. 

13  b  He  who  has  made  the  universe,  the  earth,  and  all  that  is 
therein.  Omit  umi,  which  is  due  to  dittography,  and  read,  in  accord- 
ance with  Gk.,  Q^'n ;  place  'arm  of  13  a  after  tebel,  and  instead  of 
qullah,  read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  n3  '^m  Sdi.  The  rest  of  13  a, 
mi  paqad  alaw,  which  was  not  read  by  the  Greek,  is  a  repetition  of 
mi  paqad  alaw  of  36.  23. 

18  Who  says.  Vocahze,  in  accordance  with  one  Ms.,  Gk.  Syr.  and 
Vulg.,  "^^'^n  (Beer-K.). 

19  c.  "  For  they  are  all  the  work  of  His  hands  "  is  a  gloss. 

30  He  setteth  up  a  godless  man  as  a  ruler  because  of  the  stubborn- 
ness of  the  people.  In  accordance  with  Gk.,  ^amXevoyv  and  aTro 
Svo-KoXias  (12  Codd.  Sergii  8ia  a-KXrjpoTrjTa)  read  T^^'Q,  which  is  borne 
out  also  by  Vulg.  and  Targ.,  and  '^pp  (cf.  Deut.  9.  27  where  the 
Greek  hkewise  renders  qes?ii  a-KXrjporrjTa) ;  the  present  reading  mim- 
moqshe  is  due  to  dittography  of  m. 

14  When  He  chooses  to  take  back.  In  accordance  with  Gk.,  d 
yap  PovXoiTo  avvix^iv,  omit  ^^  and  read  ^^l  V^n:  DX ;  the  reading 


270  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

jashlb  is  bome  out  also  by  5  Mss.,  Kethlb  Orient.,  and  Syr. ;  jashlb  and 
je'Ssof  are  circumstantial  clauses,  dependent  on  jahpos. 

25  6  a  ,  24  a  He  will  overturn  the  mighty  unawares.  Read 
Vj^T  J?""?  Dn'3D  ^sni,  omitting  "^pn  of  24  a;  jada'u,  written  without 
final  u,  was  misread  jaro'd,  and  placed  at  the  head  of  the  sentence. 
Proof  of  the  original  reading  jada'{u)  maybe  seen  in  jada'  of  Ken.  158, 
5  de  Rossi,  and  jedu'd  of  2  de  Rossi,  also  in  Gk.,  6  KaraXa/x/Javcuv.  As  to 
heqer,  it  is  a  remnant  in  Heb.  of  the  reading  of  v.  24  (following  6  KaraX.) 
by  Gk.,  avc^LXViaara,  evSoid  re  kol  e^atVta  wv  ovk  tcrriv  dpt^/xos,  which 
is  a  repetition  of  5.  9,  9.  10.  Tliis  does  away  with  the  customary 
translation  of  lo  heqer,  "in  ways  past  finding  out,"  "without  in- 
quisition," which,  like  the  translations  of  other  parts  of  34.  24ff. 
are  admittedly  a  mere  makeshift. 

20  c  which  forms  a  parallel  member  of  25  6  a,  24  o  must  originally 
have  followed  the  latter.  And  remove  the  tyrants.  In  accordance 
with  Mss.  Ken.  191  and  248,  read  D'T3«  n-g;).  But  not  with  human 
hand :  lo'  hejad  is  a  very  common  ellipsis  for  W  bejad  'adam,  cf.  Dan. 
2.  34,  45,  8.  25,  Lam.  4.  6. 

Verse  15,  "  all  flesh  will  perish  together,  and  man  return  unto  dust," 
is  an  interpolation,  which  was  added  after  the  text  became  deranged ; 
it  was  suggested  by  Ps.  104.  29. 

20  o,  25  b^,  20  b  fS,  20  b  a,  25  a,  26  a  a  Verse  20  a-b,  with  those 
parts  of  it  that  became  misplaced  in  v.  25f.,  read  originally  as 
follows : 

naj;;;.  ^i<2T  nVS  mvni  iniD'  ;;:") 

V/hen  jiddakka'u  was  omitted,  it  was,  with  lajla  as  a  cue,  put  in  the  mar- 
gin, whence  both  were  placed  in  v.  25.  The  present  reading  jakkir 
of  25  a  is  due  to  adaptation  to  the  verbs  preceding  and  following  it 
now,  and  ma'badehem  of  25  a,  as  we  shall  see  later,  is  a  fragment  of 
v.  21  as  read  by  Gk.  The  original  text  read  as  object  of  jakklru 
hdthath  (see  6.  21),  which  transposed  to  tahath  got  in  v.  26.  Instead  of 
iaken,  not  read  by  Gk.,  the  original  text  read  ki,  as  may  be  concluded 
from  enim  of  Vulg. 

28  The  cry  of  the  poor  will  reach  Him.  On  the  ground  of  Syr., 
'a'la\  read  ^i^?,  instead  of  lehabi;  in  accordance  with  Ms.  Ken.  125, 
and  as  several  scholars  have  emended,  read  vS«,  instead  of  'daw. 
In  28  b  read,  with  Duhm  and  Beer-K.,  ^}^.]^,  instead  of  sa'dqath,  mis- 
takenly repeated  from  the  first  clause.    28  a  is  coordinate  with  28  6, 


NOTES  271 

labo*  being  emphatic  infinitive,  meant  to  express  that  it  is  certain  be- 
yond question  that  the  cry  of  the  poor  reaches  God. 

XXXV.  9  against  great  oppression,  'dshuqim  is  pluralia  tantum, 
like  pedujim,  "  ransom,"  shefutlniy  "  judgment,"  'dnushlm,  "fine.''  The 
mighty.  Cf.  Ps.  48.  3,  Lam.  1.16.  In  mippene  ge'  on  ra'lm  of  35.  12  a, 
which  is  all  that  the  original  Greek  read  of  the  verse,  we  have  very 
likely  a  variation  of  mizzero'a  rahblm.  As  to  12  a,  lo'  ja'ctnce  seems 
to  be  a  variant  of  lo'  jishma'  of  v.  13,  and  jis'dqu,  oijaz%qu  of  v.  9. 

Gk.  XXXIV.  21  For  He  seeth  them  that  work  evil,  and  nought  that 
they  do  is  hidden  from  Him.  Of  v.  21  a  there  is  a  double  translation  in 
Gk.  (1)  21  a  avTos  yap  oparrjs  icrriv  tpyoiv  avOpwTrwv  (2)  35.  13  6-14  a 
avTO'^  yap  ^  oparrj^  kcmv  tcov  a-vreXovvroiv  to.  avofUL  :  the  latter,  being  a 
correction  of  the  former,  was  probably  added  in  the  margin,  whence 
it  got  in  its  present  place.  Gk.  34.  21  b  reads,  XeXrjOev  8e  avrbv  ovhev 
<Sv  TTpaaa-ovoriv.  The  Hebrew  represented  by  Gk.  read  approximately 
as  follows :  D-l^li^^??  ^^m  "^^02  y^]  T^h]p  'WV  nJ<T  j^^n  o.  A  trace 
of  this  original  reading  may  still  be  seen  in  ma'badehem  of  v.  25.  The 
present  Hebrew  of  v.  21,  only  a  fragment  of  which  exists  in  the 
Greek,  in  v.  23  b,  6  yap  KvpLo<;  irdvraa-  i<fiopa,  belonged  originally  to 
the  Elihu  interpolation. 

22  may  not  hide,    lehissother  is  emphatic  infinitive. 

XXXV.  14  thou  seest  it  not.  The  sufiix  of  teshurennu  is  anticipa- 
tory, referring  to  din  of  the  following  clause ;  for  similar  construction 
cf.  Nu.  24.  17.  Thou  must  wait  in  fear  and  trembling  for  Him.  teholel 
is  Polel  from  hul,  "  to  tremble,"  "  to  be  stricken  with  anxiety,"  wait  is 
implied  by  its  construction  with  the  preposition  le. 

XXXIV.  23  For  not  to  man  hath  He  given  the  right  to  approach, 
literally  hath  He  assigned  it  to  approach,  cf.  the  related  meaning  of 
sum  'al,  37.  15,  and  sum  le,  Prov.  8.  29,  also  that  of  nathan  'al,  II 
Ki.  18.  14;  instead  of  'od  the  original  text,  in  all  probability,  read  ^ad, 
which  was  intended  as  a  variant  of  'el  and  wrongly  inserted  before 
lahaloh{Qi.  21^).  to  demand  a  tribunal.  The  preposition  6e  expresses 
the  end  in  view,  cf.  Ps.  71.  16,  'abo'  bigeburoth,  "  I  will  come  to  tell 
the  mighty  deeds  "  (note  the  parallelism),  I  Ki.  13.  1  ba'  bidebar  j., 
"  He  came  to  reveal  the  word  of  Y." 

29  If  He  be  silent.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Ms.  Ken.  235,  ^p^". 
(Budde  and  others),  cf .  Is.  18. 4.  Whether  from  a  nation  or  from  a  man, 
who  can  reprove  him?    Instead  of  jeshurennu,  read  i^D'?^'  and  place 

^  6  TravTOKpdT(j}p  is  not  part  of  the  variant;  it  belonged  originally  to  the 
verse  at  present  preceding  it  (see  35.  13). 


272  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

it,  together  with  ml  preceding  it,  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  after  jahad; 
w  .  .  .  w,  ''  whether  .  .  .  or,"  occui's  very  frequently. 

XXXIV.  16  If  thou  art  wise.  Instead  of  bina,  read  in  accordance 
with  all  the  versions,  \)y^,  as  generally  emended. 

17.  The  first  part  of  this  versein  the  Hebrew  being  corrupt,  the  pre- 
vailing translations  of  this  part  are  of  necessity  based  on  conjecture. 
I  have  substituted  for  the  Hebrew  of  the  entire  verse,  the  reading  in  the 
Greek,  Cod.  A,  iSe  ^  ctol  ovk  oUl  tov  fxia-ovvTa  avojjua  kol  tov  oAAvvra 
T0V5  TTovrjpovs  2  anoviov  elvai  SUaLov.  I  take  this  to  be  the  original 
reading,  because  of  the  pointed  reference  it  contains  to  Job's  account 
of  his  righteous  life  in  29.  14-17,  12.  Such  effects  as  the  one  achieved 
by  this  reading  are  quite  in  the  manner  of  our  Job  author,  thej^  are  never 
the  work  of  an  interpolator,^  and  it  goes  without  saying,  never  the 
fehcitous  result  of  a  translator's  efforts  to  render  conjecturally  an 
obscure  text.  The  retranslation  into  Hebrew  can  in  the  present  case 
not  be  attempted,  since  the  Greek  does  not  give  a  sufficient  clue  to 
the  sentence-structure  of  the  Hebrew. 

Gk.  XXXVI.  5  a  yLyvaJcrKe  Se  otl  6  KvpLo<s  ov  fxrj  awoTTOirjd-qrai 
TOV  aKaKov, 
17    Qv\  iKTTepTjacL  8e  Sltto  SiKat'coi/  Kplpxx 

The  Hebrew  represented  is  approximately  as  follows : 
on  DJ^D'  t?S  Sx  o  xj  ;n 

As  to  the  first  half  verse,  Zo'  jim'as  is  all  tkat  is  preserved  in  Heb.  v.  5 ; 
as  to  the  second,  it  is  missing  entirely  in  the  Hebrew ;  it  is  by  no  means 
equivalent,  as  commonly  thought,  to  Heb.  v.  7  a,  Heb.  vv.  7-12,  with 
vv.  5-6  preceding  (exclusive  of  lo'  jwi'as),  being  a  part  of  the  Elihu 
interpolation. 

15  He  delivereth  the  sufferer  from  trouble,  and  openeth  His  ear  to 
him  in  his  affliction.  In  the  second  clause  read,  in  accordance  with 
Vulg.,  1J[^,  instead  of  ^oznam  (Budde  and  others) ;  further  be'onjo 
of  the  first  clause  was  originally  read  in  the  second,  in  place  of  ballahas, 
while  in  the  first  clause  the  text  read  ■^^?,  which  is  now  found  in  v.  16  a ; 
hallahas  of  v.  15  6  is  a  variant.     Note  that  mippi  sar  of  v.  16  a,  which 

^  By  the  variant  el  5e  of  Cod.  A  the  meaning  is  in  no  wise  altered,  ei 
being  used,  instead  of  ide,  to  introduce  the  direct  question. 

2  It  is  evident  that  6vTa  ai.  is  a  mistake  for  the  original  reading,  ot,  elvai 
of  Codd.  A  and  Prs.  23. 

3  Cf .  p.  60  note. 


NOTES  273 

has  no  parallel  anywhere,  is  absolutely  meaningless ;  the  translators, 
like  RV.,  either  ignored  pi,  or  resorted  to  far-fetched  translations  as 
e.g.  Dillmann,  who  renders  "  verleitet  hat  dich  vom  Mund  der  Not 
weg,"  and  explains,  "  d.  h.  dass  du  der  Sprache,  welche  die  Not  zu  dir 
spricht,  ungehorsam  entgegensetzt."  The  suffix  of  'ozno  refers  to 
God,  and  the  accusative  'ani  of  15  a  is  to  be  construed  also  as  indirect 
object  with  15  h,  being  a  case  of  brachylogy ;  with  missar  —  or  ballahas 
—  cf.  Ps.  32.  7,  60.  13,  4.  2,  Is.  26.  16.  Gk.  v.  10  a  represents  Heb. 
V.  15,  having  contracted  the  two  clauses  into  one :  dAAa  tov  Sikulov 
ei(TaKov(TeTaL. 

XXXV.  13,  first  word  of  XXXVI.  13,  Gk.  XXXVI.  12  a.  In  35. 13  a, 
shaw'  lo'  jishma',  being  impossible  Hebrew,  cannot  be  the  original  read- 
ing; shaw'  is,  in  all  probability,  mistaken  reading  for  ^P.]P  (written  ab- 
breviated) ,  which  was  originally  followed  by  ^^n .  The  latter  word  is  at 
present  found  at  the  beginning  of  36.  13,  its  present  form  as  construct 
plural  being  due  to  the  secondary  combination  with  leh  (see  below). 
This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the  Greek  read  35. 13  also 
in  36.  12  a,  but  contracted  into  one  clause :  do-ey3ets  8e  ov  Stao-w^et ; 
as  in  8.  13,  20.  5,  27.  8,  da-e/Sd^  is  rendering  of  hanef.  In  35.  13  b  the 
present  Te&dingjeshurennah  is  due  to  dittography  of  teshurennu  of  v.  14 ; 
the  original  text  read  ^^^^'V-.  This  original  reading  is  borne  out,  in 
the  first  place,  by  Stao-.  of  Gk.  36.  12  a,  and  in  the  second,  by  the 
fact  that  not  only  Heb.  35.  13  a,  but  also  13  b,  was  read  by  the  Gk. : 
the  latter  half  verse  with  omission  of  W  and  with  the  accusative  suffix 
of  the  third  changed  to  that  of  the  first  person,  became  mixed  up  with 
the  variant  we  have  in  Gk.  35.  13  6-14  a  cf  Gk.  34.  21a;  it  reads 
6  TravTo/cpdrcop  crwo-et  /xe ;  note  that  S*^  reads  rjfxa^  for  f/,e  —  a  mis- 
reading which,  as  far  as  the  consonantal  text  is  concerned,  presents  no 
deviation  from  the  original  Hebrew  represented  by  o-wo-ct  17 /xS?. 

Gk.  XXXVI.  12  6,  Heb.  XXXIV.  27  b.  The  former  reads,  iraphi  rb 
fir]  ftovXca-Oat  etSeVat  avToh  rov  Kvpiov.  The  Hebrew  represented  is 
probably  as  follows :  D^nS^  T\T[  iVfln  ^h  O,  with  which  Heb.  34.  27  b 
formed  originally  one  couplet :  For  they  desire  not  the  knowledge  of 
God,  Neither  do  they  comprehend  His  ways.  Heb.  34.  27  a  "  Because 
they  turned  from  following  Him,"  represents  a  prose  version  of  Gk.  36. 
12  6. 

XXXVI.  13  The  first  clause  is  to  be  emended,  in  accordance  with  Gk. 
12  c,  Kttt  SiOTt  vovderoviJievoL  olvi^kool  rja-av,  as  follows  :  "^^'^^  ^  '  ^"^OV  ^D  f]N 
^h  bs<,  Though  they  have  been  chastened  they  heed  not.  (About  hanfe 
see  35.  13.) 


274  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

XXXV.  10  Nor  say  '  Where  is  God,  our  Maker?  '  Read,  in  ac- 
cordance with  Syr.,  i*^^i<  and  ^y^'y  (Budde  and  others) ;  the  latter  was 
written  in  abbre\dated  form  and  not  recognized,  while  the  present 
reading  ^amar  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  final  u  of  the  third  plur.  was 
not  written. 

XXXV.  11  is  a  variant  of  12.  7f.,  whence  it  got  in  here  by  mistake. 

XXXVI.  14  They  die  .  .  .their  life  perisheth.  tamoth  is  a  case  of 
zeugma,  being  predicate  of  both  najsham  and  hajjatham. 

16  Boundless  pride  hath  beguiled  thee,  and  the  comfort  of  thy  table 
laden  with  fat  foods.  Of  the  various  interpretations  heretofore  given 
of  this  verse  none  is  acceptable.  Besides  7nippi  sar,  already  disposed 
of  (see  v.  15),  rahab  has  been  another  stumbling-block.  This  phrase 
is  not,  as  generalh^  thought,  synonymous  with  rehaha  or  merhab, 
"broad,"  "roomy,"  and  consequently  cannot  be  considered  as  figura- 
tive of  freedom  from  distress  and  anxiety ;  it  is  ellipsis  for  rehab  nefesh, 
which  occurs,  Prov.  28.  25,  and  is  identical  with  rehab  leb,  ib.  21.  4, 
Ps.  101.  5.  This  interpretation  of  rahabh  is  borne  out  by  the  fern. 
suffix  of  tahath,  which  is  perfect  text  and  requires  no  emendation. 
Note  also  that  by  the  interpretation  given  of  v.  16  a  both  parts  of  the 
verse  are  perfectly  balanced,  and  make  excellent  sense,  while  the  cus- 
tomary translation  of  v.  16  a,  "  into  a  broad  place  where  there  is 
no  straitness,"  is  grammatically  impossible ;  nor  does  the  prevailing 
translation  of  hasltheka,  "  He  would  have  led  thee  away,"  accord  with 
the  meaning  of  the  word. 

17  of  the  judgment  that  pursueth  the  wicked,  dm  rasha'  is  another 
case  of  qualificative  genitive  like  neivath  sidqeka,  8.  6,  musar  kelimathl, 
20. 3.  Just  judgment,  din  umishpat  is  a  case  of  hendiadys.  hath  laid 
hold  on  thee.  The  pronoun  ta  of  rtiaWtha,  being  a  case  of  brachylogy, 
is  to  be  construed  also  as  object  with  jithmoku. 

18  As  to  the  first  clause,  pen  jesltheka,  which  was  not  read  by  Gk., 
is  a  variant  of  af  hdsitheka  of  v.  16,  having  got  in  here  from  the  margin, 
while  ki  hema  is  all  that  is  left  of  the  original  text  as  read  by  Gk.,  6vfxo<s 
Bi  ctt"  aa-e/Seh  ij^et,  as  Cod.  A,  Sah.  new,  and  2  Prs.  correctly  read 
for  lo-rat  of  the  other  Codd. ;  the  half  verse  is  a  repetition,  in  slightly 
varied  form,  of  19.  29  b  as  preserv^ed  by  Gk.  As  to  the  second  clause, 
hesafeq  werab  kofer  is  evidently  a  corrupt  fragment  of  the  more  com- 
plete text  as  read  by  Gk.,  St"  da-i/SeLav  Swpwv  wv  iSe^ovro  in  dStKiat?, 
which  may  possibly  have  belonged  to  35.  15 ;  'al  iattekka  formed  origi- 
nally the  opening  of  v.  19  as  Gk.  19,  {xrj  o-e  eKKAtmro),  shows. 

Verses  19-20  are  too  corrupt  for  interpretation ;  they  furnish  nothing 
certain  on  which  to  base  even  a  conjecture. 


NOTES  275 

21  On  account  of  it  thou  hast  been  tried  with  affliction.     Vocalize, 

as  Ewald  and  others  have  rightly  emended,  •H'^na  (passive  Qal),  the 
active  of  which  occurs  Is.  48.  10 ;  as  to  'al,  "  on  account  of,"  cf .  I  Ki. 
21.  4,  II  Ki.  6.  11,  and  as  to  min,  "  by,"  cf.  Ps.  73.  19,  also  Is.  28.  7. 

22  Who  is  to  be  feared.  Read  ^"V^  and  cf .  Ps.  76.  12 ;  mora  is  po- 
tential participle. 

31  He  provideth  food.  Instead  of  jadln,  read  \^K  as  Houbigant 
and  others  have  emended  on  the  ground  of  the  parallelism. 

XXXVII.  6  a  Fall  on  the  earth,  hewe  is  derived  from  hawa,  "fall," 
and  is  construed  with  accusative  of  direction. 

7  He  sealeth  up  the  hand  of  every  man.  bejad  must  not  be  emended 
to  be'ad,  as  has  repeatedly  been  done ;  the  expression  is  by  no  means 
identical  with  that  of  9. 75,  for  while  the  latter  denotes  to  keep  concealed, 
the  phrase  here  means  to  hinder  from  action ;  it  should  properly  be  trans- 
lated He  tieth  up  the  hand,  etc. 

Mention  must  be  made  here  of  Gk.  36.  28  a,  read  by  Cod.  C  and  21 
Prs.  after  37.  5a:  wpav  eOero  KTrjvecnv,  olSaatv  8e  KOirr}<s  tol^lv,  which 
is  identical  with  Heb.  36.  33,  the  original  reading  of  which  has  been 
restored  with  great  skill  by  Miss  Nichols,  in  accordance  with  the  Greek, 
as  follows:  nyi;ra  Dipp  i;;t  njpoS  nj;  Tr.  The  verse  is  not  an  origi- 
nal part  of  either  Bildad's  or  Job's  speech ;  it  was  added  as  a  marginal 
comment  to  37.  8,  as  Dillmann  and  Duhm  rightly  concluded.  In  proof 
of  their  conclusion  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  verse  has  reference^ 
not  to  the  animals'  seeking  shelter  at  the  approach  of  winter,  but  to 
their  observing  the  time  of  copulation^  —  a  thought  which  has  no  rele- 
vance whatever  either  in  Bildad's  or  in  Job's  speech. 

9  Out  of  the  Chambers  of  the  Southern  sky.  Read,  on  the  ground 
of  9.  9,  \^'^  '^lOP,  as  Duhm  and  Cheyne  have  correctly  emended. 
The  warm  South-wind,  which  brings  heat  and  storms,  was  believed  to 
come  from  "the  Chambers  of  the  Southern  sky"  (cf.  remarks  on  9.  9). 

10  a  solid  mass.  As  to  this  meaning  of  musaq,  cf.  the  remark 
on  11.  15;  the  preposition  be  is  be  essentiae. 

14  'Ijjob  of  this  verse  is  not  original  reading,  but  later  addition  due 
to  the  fact  that  Bildad's  speech  became  mixed  up  with  that  of  Elihu. 
Note  that  in  the  Gk.  Codd.  A  S^  of  37.  2  we  have  another  instance  of  an 
interpolated  'IwjS. 

15  hath  given  them  his  commands.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Targ. 
geserta,  pn  or  ipn  after  'dlShem;  cf.  Prov.  8.  29. 

16  Absolute  Wisdom.    The  idea  Absolute  is  expressed  partly  by 

I  Cf .  Jer.  8.  7. 


276  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

tamlm,  partly  by  the  plural  of  de'lm.  In  regard  to  16  a  see  the  comment 
on  36.  29. 

Gk.  XXXVI.  28  b  iTrl  roirrots  Tracnv  ovk  k^idTarai  aov  rj  hiavoKx, 
ovSc  StaAAacrcreTat  aov  y  KapBia  oltto  o"oj/xaTOS, 

does  not  represent  Heb.  37.  1,  as  it  is  generally  thought  to  do,  but  is 
missing  in  the  Hebrew  altogether.  Heb.  37.  1  belongs  to  the  speech 
of  Job,  and  is  quite  at  variance  with  the  Hebrew  represented  by  Gk. 
36.  28  h,  which  must  have  been  approximately  as  follows : 

Cf.  Hos.  11.  8  and  Lam.  1.  20,  where  nehpak  'alaj  libbi  and  I.  beqirbi 
respectively  are  used  -^i^ath  much  the  same  meaning,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  parallelism.  The  rendering  of  b&  with  diro  (though  it  occurs 
quite  often,  cf.  e.g.  21.  17)  is,  like  that  of  nehpak  \vith  StaAXao-o-erat, 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Alexandrian  translators  did  not  understand 
the  real  meaning  of  36.  28  b. 

XXXV.  5  The  banks  of  clouds  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  shur 
shehaqim. 

XXXVII.  24  AU  .  .  .  fear  Him.  In  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Syr., 
omit  ^^  and  read  =1^1' ;  the  objective  suffix  oijere'uhu  is  object  also  of 
jire'u. 

XXV.  5  Even  the  moon  hath  no  luster.  Vocalize,  in  accordance  with 
most  versions,  /HN^ ;  as  in  7.  5,  alef  was  used  as  vowel-letter  in  the 
body  of  the  word  and  not  recognized  as  such ;  as  to  'ad,  "  even,"  cf. 
remarks  on  14.  12. 

XXIV.  24  They  are  no  more.  Instead  of  we^enennu,  read,  in  accord- 
ance with  Vulg.  S3T.,  ^y^  (Budde). 

20  The  lap  that  cherished  him :  methaqo,  which  I  have  translated  ac- 
cording to  the  sense  rather  than  the  construction,  is  intransitive,  just  as 
in  21.  33 ;  the  suffix  is  not  direct  but  indirect  object.    20b  read  Hd")  . 

Chapters  XXVI  and  XXVIII  and  Their  Original  Constituent 
Parts  from  Chapters  XXIII  and  XXXVI.  26-XXXVII.  23 

The  deplorable  efiPect  which  the  text  disorder  of  the  second 
part  of  Job  has  had  on  the  interpretation  of  the  book  as  a  whole 
can  best  be  judged  by  the  way  in  which  ch.  28  has  been  handled. 
Not  only  has  the  vital  importance  of  ch.  28  for  the  solution  of 


NOTES  277 

the  problem  not  been  recognized,  but  as  a  rule  the  chapter  has 
been  radically  misinterpreted,  and  in  consequence  has  even 
been  rejected  as  unauthentic  by  the  great  majority  of  modern 
scholars.  Fortunately,  except  for  the  interpolation,  generally 
recognized  as  such,  of  vv.  15-19,  it  has  come  down  to  us  in 
excellent  order,  the  strange  confusion  concerning  it  in  the  minds 
of  the  critics  being  due  solely  to  its  misplacement  in  the  book. 
In  view  of  the  detailed  interpretation  of  this  speech  in  the 
Introduction,  pp.  58ff.,  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  here  than  to 
point  out  its  relevancy  to  Bildad's  speech.  Notably  Bildad's 
attempt  to  impress  Job  by  emphasizing  the  awe-inspiring  works 
of  God  is  the  occasion  for  Job  to  give  that  wonderful  description 
of  the  immensity  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  material  happen- 
ings of  the  universe  —  a  description  which  is  without  equal  either 
in  Biblical  literature  or  in  ancient  literature  in  general.  The 
opening  of  the  speech,  too,  in  which  sadness  gives  way  to  bitter 
sarcasm,  is  a  direct  rejoinder  to  Bildad's  tirade.  See  also  re- 
marks on  37.  1. 

XXIII.  2  Indeed,  I  know  that  my  chastisement  hath  come  from  Him. 

The  original  text  of  v.  2  a  has  been  preserved  by  the  Greek  as  read  in 
the  Boh.  The  latter  has  in  common  with  20  Prs.,  Compl.  Aid.  Sah. 
Hie.^  the  reading  koI  8^  olSa,  .  .  .  y  lAeylt?  fxov  ia-nv,  but  it  varies  from 
all  other  Codd.  by  reading  ebolhitotf,  "  from  His  hand,"  instead  of 
CK  x€tpo5  fJiov ;  in  accordance  with  this  reading  of  the  Bohairic,  which 
is  clearly  the  original,  v.  2  a  is  to  be  emended  as  follows : 

•    T  T  •  •  ^  T    ;     T 

His  hand  is  heavy  more  than  my  groans  can  express.  Instead  of 
jadi,  read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Sjn:".,  n;^  as  many  critics  have 
correctly  emended;  as  in  Gen.  49.  26,  Ps.  89.  8,  137.  6,  Dan.  11.  5,  'al 
means  beyond,  we  would  say  "  heavy  beyond  words." 

XXXVII.  1, 2  When  I  harken.  Instead  of  shim'u  of  v.  2,  the  original 
text  read  I^^'f  *<,  as  is  shovm  by  Aq.  rJKova-a.  Aquila's  reading  accords 
with  libbl  of  v.  1,  thereby  leaving  no  room  to  doubt  the  correctness  of 
the  latter.  It  furnishes  conclusive  proof  that  Heb.  v.  1  does  not  repre- 
sent Gk.  36.  28  6,  but  that  it  is  Job's  answer  to  it.     In  Gk.  36.  28  6,  lost 


278  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

in  the  Hebrew,  Bildad  asks,  Doth  not  thy  spirit  marvel  at  all  this,  And  is 
not  thy  heart  stirred  within  thee?  and  Job,  after  a  few  introductory  re- 
marks of  a  personal  nature  (quite  customary  with  him,  cf.  12.  2f., 
16.  2-6,  19.  2ff.)  begins  his  speech  proper  with  the  answer  to  this 
question,  My  heart  is  awed  at  these  ivonders  too,  It  leapeth  within  me,  etc. 
It  may  be  added  that  the  reading  libbi  is  not  only  upheld  by  the  sense, 
it  is  well  authenticated  by  the  versions,  being  read  by  Gk.  (supple- 
mented from  Theod.)  Vulg.  and  Targ. ;  Syr.  libbeh  is  clearly  due  to  the 
misreading  of  j  for  w ;  it  fits  neither  Heb.  37.  1  nor  Gk.  36.  28  6. 

XXXVI.  26  a,  XXXVII.  5  b,  XXXVI.  26  b.  As  to  37.  5  b  which  is 
obviously  not  in  its  proper  place,  'osoe  gedoloth  was  omitted  from  36. 
26  a  after  sdgi\  and,  with  welo'  neda'  as  a  cue,  was  put  in  the  margin, 
whence  it  got  wrongly  in  37.  5;  nifla'dth,  which  was  not  read  by  Gk., 
is  later  addition.  In  36.  26  w  of  weld'  is  to  be  omitted,  being  dittog- 
raphy  of  w  with  which  the  preceeding  word  ends. 

XXXVI.  27  b  He  distilleth.  Read  sing,  pv,  in  accordance  with 
Vulg.  and  Syr.  (Duhm). 

29  Who  can  understand  what  keepeth  the  clouds  balanced?  In- 
stead of  'im,  read,  in  accordance  with  Syr.,  'P  (Siegfried  and  others) 
and  instead  of  mifrese,  read  t'^SP  —  a  reading  supported  also  by  37. 16, 
to  which  our  verse  is  the  answer.  How  the  equipoise  of  His  pavilion 
is  effected?  In  29  b  the  vocalization  teshu'dth  C^  thundering  ")  is  not 
original  reading.  Though  the  proper  reading  of  the  word  cannot  be 
determined,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  must  be  a  derivative  of 
shawd,  with  the  meaning  equipoise.  Proof  of  this  is  the  rendering 
idOTrjra  by  Theod.  and  the  periphrastic  rendering  rikpath,  "  consist- 
ence," "  coherence,"  by  Targ.  In  26.  8  the  writer  is  more  definite  in 
regard  to  the  marvelous  phenomenon  of  which  he  speaks  here.  Like 
the  rest  of  his  age,  he  found  it  inexplicable  that  the  clouds,  "  floating 
reservoirs  of  water,"  should  remain  suspended  and  not  burst  under 
the  weight  of  the  water  they  contain.  An  interesting  parallel  to  these 
verses,  though  entirely  independent  of  them,  is  found  in  a  product 
written  many  centuries  later,  the  so-called  Syriac  Alexander  Legend, 
which,  dating  from  the  second  decade  of  the  sixth  century  a.d.,  forms 
one  of  the  innumerable  offshoots  of  Pseudo-Callisthenes.     It  reads : 

"  He  (Alexander)  said  to  them  (his  generals) :  '  This  thought  has 
arisen  in  my  mind,  and  I  am  wondering  what  is  the  extent  of  the  earth, 
and  how  high  the  heavens  are,  and  how  many  are  the  countries  of  my 
fellow  kings,  and  upon  what  the  heavens  are  fixed ;  whether  perchance 
thick  clouds  and  winds  support  them,  or  whether  pillars  of  fire  rise  up 
from  the  interior  of  the  earth  and  bear  the  heavens,  so  that  they  move 


NOTES  279 

not  for  anything,  or  whether  they  depend  on  the  beck  of  God  and  fall 
not.'  "  1 

30  His  mist  ...  mountain  tops.  Instead  of  ^oro,  read,  in  accord- 
ance with  Theod.  Cod.  S^,  ^Sw,  and  Targ.  mitra,  "n^^,  and  instead  of 
shorshe  hajjam,  read  U'^.^T)  'dHi  (Duhm  and  others). 

32  to  its  goal.  Instead  of  bemafgl'a  vocalize  1^^373^  (Olshausen  and 
many  others) . 

XXXVII.  4  a  There  is  a  furious  roaring,  qol  is  ellipsis  for  qol  gadol, 
forming  an  adverbial  accusative. 

4  6,  5  a  God  thundereth  with  a  majestic  voice.  The  identity  of  v. 
5  a  with  V.  4  6  may  be  noticed  at  a  glance.  V.  5  a  carries  no  weight  in 
its  present  place,  nor  can  it  be  considered  a  parallel  member  of  4  a-b ; 
it  must  be  either  a  variant  of  v.  4  6,  or  what  is  more  likely,  ^^  was 
omitted  in  v.  4  b,  and  with  both  its  preceding  and  following  word  as  a 
cue,  was  added  in  the  margin,  whence  it  got  into  v.  5.  This  conclusion 
is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  v.  5  a  was  not  read  in  the  original  Greek. 

4  c,  Qb  He  stayeth  not  the  rainpour  when  His  thunder  is  heard, 
The  torrents  of  rain  become  but  heavier.  V.  4  c  and  v.  6  6  originally 
belonged  together,  and  read  as  follows : 

^^j;]  Dm,  nnpp  ib'ip  };m:  '2  q^a  "'^P  ^pJl]  ^^] 

The  construction  geshem  matar,  geshem  mitrot  is  grammatically  impos- 
sible, and,  as  Zech.  10. 1  shows,  must  be  due  to  mistaken  transposition. 
The  sufiix  m  oije'aqbem,  which  was  not  read  by  Vulg.,  cannot  be  original 
reading,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  it  has  no  antecedent ;  the 
m  is  all  that  was  left  when  v.  6  6  became  separated  from  v.  4  c. 

11  When  the  clouds  send  forth  ...  He  hurleth  the  thunderbolt 
through  the  clouded  sky.  Ah-eady  the  ancient  versions  were  puzzled 
by  this  verse,  being  at  a  loss  as  to  the  meaning  of  beri.  Sym.,  and 
following  him  Vet.  Lat.  Hie.  and  Vulg.,  render  the  word  with  Kapino 
ajid  frumentum,  reading  evidently  6ar  ("  grain  "),  while  Aq.  and  Theod. 
render  it  with  ckXcktw,  reading  in  all  probability  barur ;  Targ.  takes 
it  to  be  an  abbreviation  of  berlrut  (though  this  word  is  not  found  in 
Hebrew).  These  renderings,  all  based  merely  on  conjecture,  show  that 
there  is  no  tradition  for  the  interpretation  of  the  RV.  and  of  various 
modern  exegetes,  which  takes  beri  to  be  composed  of  be  and  n  and  to 
mean  "  with  moisture."  Nor  is  their  interpretation  borne  out  by  the 
context,  for  v.  12,  with  its  emphatic  wehu\  points  to  the  conclusion 

1  The  History  of  Alexander  the  Great,  being  the  Syriac  Version  of  the  Pseudo- 
Callisthenes,  ed.  and  transl.  by  E.  A.  W.  Budge  (1889),  pp.  145,  255f. 


280  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

that  V.  11  dealt  only  with  the  phenomenon  of  lightning.  Hontheira 
and  others  rightly  concluded  that  instead  of  beiH,  the  text  originally 
read  p1^.  The  word,  it  seems  to  me,  was  written  in  abbreviated 
form  '■"'3,  which  explains  not  only  Sym.'s  rendering,  but  also  that  of 
Aq.  and  Theod.,  and  the  Masoretic  reading  and  the  rendering  of  Targ. 
as  well.  In  v.  116  \y4  is  to  be  vocalized,  in  accordance  with  15  Mss. 
Theod.  Viilg.  and  Targ.,  as  likewise  emended  by  Hontheim  and  others. 
In  difference  from  these,  however,  I  take  it  that  v.  116  is  not  coordi- 
nate with,  but  subordinate  to  11  a,  and  further,  that  the  subject  of 
jatrlh,  which,  like  Arab,  taraha,  has  here  the  meaning  hurleth,  is  God, 
and  that  'ab  is  accusative,  denoting  the  object  toward  which  the  motion 
is  directed  (for  similar  accusatives  cf.  II  Chron.  29.  22,  Gen.  37.  24, 
Nu.  22.  23,  Josh.  10. 10,  II  Sam.  6. 10,  Is.  50. 10)  .i  'ab,  as  its  etymology 
implies,  denotes  primarily  the  heavy  clouds  which  obscure  the  sky 
during  a  thunderstorm  (cf.  Ps.  18.  12,  I  Ki.  18.  45) ;  this  primary 
meaning  of  'ab  explains  also  how  the  word  came  to  denote  Yahweh's 
throne-chariot  (cf.  Is.  19.  1,  14.  14,  Ps.  104.  3),  since  the  thundercloud 
was  conceived  of  as  the  throne-chariot.  That  God  is  the  subject  of 
jatrlh  not  only  harmonizes  with  the  fact  that  throughout  the  descrip- 
tion God  is  the  acting  subject,  but  it  receives  additional  support 
from  the  parallel  description,  Ps.  18.  8-16  (II  Sam.  22.  8-16), 
where  in  v.  16  Yahweh  is  likewise  represented  as  hurling  the  thunder- 
bolt. 

12  To  carry  out  on  His  inhabited  earth  whatsoever  He  commandeth 
it.  On  the  ground  of  hit'  of  v.  12  a  and  of  jamsVehu  of,  v.  13,  read  ^i'^S 
(omitting  the  suffix)  and^nii''^  and  in  accordance  with  Syr.,  vocalize 
•^^*1^  (Grimme  and  others,  whose  emendation  mikkol,  however,  is  for 
grammatical  reasons  unacceptable). 

13  Whether  he  maketh  it  to  descend  as  a  scourge  or  for  the  sake  of 
mercy.  Omit  'm  le'arso,  which  does  not  admit  of  grammatical  con- 
struction with  the  rest  of  the  verse ;  Hm  le  is  dittography,  while  'arso 
was  originally  marginal  correction  of  'a7'sa  of  the  pre\'ious  verse,  and 
was  wrongly  inserted  in  v.  13. 

21,  22  The  sunlight  hath  been  invisible,  it  hath  been  obscured  etc. 
ra'u  is  passive  participle  (like  'asu  41.  25),  and  was,  in  fact,  taken  as 
such  by  Gk.  oparoy,  bahir  has  rightly  been  taken  by  Frd.  Delitsch 
to  be  the  same  as  Aram,  bahir,  "  dark,"  "  obscured."  When  the 
wind  riseth  from  the  North,    missafon  of  v.  22  was  originally  read  with 

*  Note  that  in  every  one  of  these  examples  the  usual  construction  is 
with  the  prepositional  phrase. 


NOTES  281 

V.  21,  probably  after  *ahera;  we  have  the  proof  in  Targ.  II,  "  From 
the  North  cometh  the  North  wind."  It  will  come  out  in  golden  splen- 
dor. The  subject  of  je'etJios  is  not  zahab,  but  'or  of  v.  21;  zahah  is 
accusative  of  comparison,  and  was  recognized  as  such  by  Gk.,  xpvaav- 
yovvTa,  though  the  translators  were  in  the  dark  as  to  the  subject 
of  the  sentence.  Note  that  the  function  attributed  in  these  verses  to 
the  North  wind  talHes  exactly  with  what  is  said  about  this  wind  in 
other  sources.  Josephus,  Ant.  XV.  96,  §  388,  calls  the  North  wind 
"  the  wind  which  produces  most  clear  weather,"  and  in  Bel.  Jud.  Ill 
93,  §  422,  he  tells  that  mariners  passing  Joppa  called  it  "  the  black 
North  wind,"  evidently  because  it  dissipates  the  storm  clouds.  For 
the  same  reason,  the  Targum  to  Prov.  25.  23,  27.  16  gives  it  the  name 
garbltha,  "  the  scouring "  or  "  sweeping  (wind)."  Further,  in  the 
Greek  version  of  Prov.  27.  16  it  is  spoken  of  as  jBopias  (TKXrjp6<s  ave- 
fxo<s.  Similarly  Jerome,  describing  the  wind  from  many  years'  experi- 
ence, calls  it  ventus  durissimus,  and  on  the  ground  of  his  local  knowl- 
edge emended  Prov.  25.  23,  Ventus  Aquilo  dissipat  pluvias.  An  awful 
majesty  adorneth  God  expresses  the  meaning  of  v.  22  b  accurately. 
It  must  be  stated,  however,  that  in  the  Hebrew  sentence-construction 
nord'  is  predicate  of  hod  and  'al  ^eloha  is  qualificative  of  hod ;  the  literal 
translation  is.  The  majesty  adorning  God  is  awful. 

XXVI.  7  He  hath  arched  the  North  over  the  void.  By  the  North  the 
celestial  pole  is  meant,  the  aKpo<s  rov  oipavov,  formed  by  the  seven  stars 
of  Ursa  minor,  from  which  the  movement  of  the  universe  was  believed 
to  proceed.  The  objection  which  has  been  raised  against  this  inter- 
pretation, on  the  ground  that  a  different  notion  was  entertained  about 
the  universe  in  ancient  times,  is  untenable,  for,  as  He  hath  suspended 
the  earth  over  the  vacuum  shows,  our  author,  though  naturally  ignorant 
of  the  law  of  gravitation,  had  outgrown  the  na'ive  view  of  his  age  about 
the  universe,  and  conceived  of  the  earth  as  a  heavenly  body  floating 
in  space,  like  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars.  It  is  not  surprising  to  meet 
with  such  a  view  in  the  Book  of  Job,  when  one  considers  the  advance 
astronomy  had  made  in  Babylonia,  Egypt,  and  Greece.  As  early  as 
540-510  B.C.,  Pythagoras  of  Samos,  on  his  travels  in  Egypt  and  the 
East,  acquired  the  knowledge  of  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  and  of 
the  earth's  being  a  sphere  freely  poised  m  space.  The  view  of  the 
earth's  axial  movement  was  held  by  many  of  his  followers.  Heraclides 
of  Pontus,  in  the  first  decade  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  taught  in  addi- 
tion that  the  sun,  while  revolving  around  the  earth,  was  the  center  of 
revolution  for  Venus  and  Mercury,  and  a  genuine  heliocentric  system 
was  developed  in  the  first  half  of  the  third  century  B.C.  by  Aristarchus 


282  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

of  Samos.i  38.  6  bears  out  rather  than  contradicts  the  conclusion  that 
the  writer  of  Job  had  attained  a  more  advanced  \4ew  of  the  universe, 
since  the  question,  ''  Whereon  were  its  foundations  set?  "  shows  that 
he  no  longer  shared  the  primitive  notion  that  the  earth  was  resting 
on  pillars  erected  in  the  sea.    As  to  9.  6,  cf.  the  remarks  on  this  verse. 

8  See  the  remarks  on  36.  29. 

9  He  hath  veiled  the  throne.  The  notion  of  the  throne  of  God 
(or  of  a  God)  in  the  heavens  is  very  common  in  ancient  literature, 
Semitic  and  classical  alike ;  its  location  was  thought  to  be  in  the  north- 
ern sky,  near  the  celestial  pole.  Is.  14.  13f.  speaks  of  "  the  mountain 
of  assembly  "  (of  the  gods)  situated  "  in  the  extreme  North ; "  the 
writer  conceives  of  it  as  a  crest  formed  by  clouds,  corresponding  to  the 
clouds  which,  according  to  our  Job  verse,  veil  the  throne  of  God,  or 
according  to  37.  29,  form  His  pavilion.  Also  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel 
the  throne  carrying  God  comes  from  the  North  (Ezek.  1.4).  Similarly, 
the  thronus  Caesaris  mentioned  by  Plinius,  Nat.  Hist.  II.  178,  is  lo- 
cated near  the  celestial  pole,  as  is  also  the  tlu-one  of  Isis  in  the  constel- 
lation of  Virgo  in  Hellenistic  literature  .^ 

10  He  hath  arched  the  dome  of  heaven.  Vocalize,  in  accordance 
with  Targ.  and  Syr.,  JO  pO,  as  commonly  emended  :  cf.  Prov.  8.  27. 

5  The  shades  beneath  shudder.  Contrary  to  the  accents  and  the 
prevailing  translation,  mittahath  is  to  be  construed  with  v.  5  a,  being  a 
qualificative  of  refa'im;  the  sentence  position  of  mittahath  leaves  no 
doubt  on  that  point.  Verse  5,  as  the  shades  beneath  shows,  is  comple- 
mentary to  V.  11,  which  speaks  of  the  sky,  and  must  originally  have 
followed  this  verse. 

12-13  The  reference  in  these  verses  is  to  the  struggle  of  Marduk 
with  Tiamat  at  the  creation  of  the  universe  —  a  struggle  which,  as  in 
7.  12,  9.  13,  Is.  51.  9,  is  transferred  to  Yahweh.  By  his  might  the  sea 
was  stilled,  raga'  is  perfect  text ;  the  subject  is  the  sea,  and  raga'  is 
intransitive.  By  the  sea  the  primeval  sea  is  meant,  which  in  the 
Babylonian  creation-myth  is  identified  with  Tiamat  —  the  sea  was 
stilled  is  equivalent  to  saying  Tiamat  was  subdued ;  note  the  parallel- 
ism. The  result  of  this  defeat  was  that  At  His  breath  the  sky  was 
cleared,  which  is  to  say,  darkness  and  chaos  gave  way  to  light  and 
order. 

XXXVII.  23  He  that  is  almighty  in  power  and  supreme  in  justice. 
sagl'  is  a  case  of  zeugma,  it  governs  both  koh  and  misphat.    He  giveth 

*  Compare  G.  V.  Schiaparelli,  Precursoridel  Coper nico  (1873),  pp.  23-28. 
2  For  the  ample  material  pertaining  to  this  notion  in  Hellenistic  htera- 
ture  see  F.  Boll,  Aus  der  Offenbarung  Johannis,  pp.  31,  109ff. 


NOTES  283 

no  accounting.  The  original  text,  Bickell  and  others  have  rightly 
pointed  out,  read  ^)X-',  this  is  substantiated  by  Gk.,  ovk  oUi  liraKovuv. 
The  parallelism,  Zo'  mesa'nuhu,  furnishes  further  support  of  this  original 
reading.  The  present  reading  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  text  was  pur- 
posely changed;  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  the  people  must  have 
taken  exception  to  Job's  declaration  that  God  answereth  not  .  .  . 
giveth  no  accounting.  The  Greek,  though  it  retained  ja'dnce,  removed 
the  objection  no  less  effectively  by  supplying  otet.  Note  that  the 
Greek  also  radically  changed  the  meaning  of  the  rest  of  the  verse  by 
rendering  lo'  mesa'nuhu,  in  violation  of  the  grammar  of  the  original 
(after  the  manner  of  the  Midrash),  with  koX  ovx  evptaKOfxev  aXXov 
ofxoLov  and  construing  in  similar  manner  shaddaj  with  v.  22  a.  This 
interpretation  of  v.  23  a  did  not  originate  with  the  Alexandrian  trans- 
lators, but  must  have  been  the  customary  one,  as  may  be  seen  from  its 
recurrence,  in  varied  form  but  always  to  the  same  effect,  in  Vulgata, 
the  Tar  gum,  and  the  Medieval  Jewish  commentators. 

23.  9  If  I  seek  Him  ...  I  cannot  behold  Him  ...  by  deviating. 
Instead  of  ba'dsotho,  read,  in  accordance  with  Syr.,  vril2^p3 ;  'ahaz,  as 
Targ.  ^ehme  shows,  is  mistaken  reading  for  nmj<^  due  to  the  omission 
of  the  vowel-letter  He;  instead  oija'tof,  read,  in  accordance  with  Targ. 
and  Syr.,  ^^)<^  —  all  three  emendations  are  widely  accepted. 

37.  20  When  He  ordaineth  that  one  be  destroyed,  could  a  writ  or  re- 
corder plead  my  case,  so  that  I  might  approach  and  silence  Him,  as  I 
should  a  human  being.  Only  the  second  clause  of  this  verse  has  come 
down  intact  in  the  Hebrew ;  the  first  clause  is  corrupt  beyond  recogni- 
tion, while  the  last  dropped  out  entirely.  Fortunately,  these  parts 
have  been  excellently  preserved  by  the  Greek,  being  authenticated  by 
all  text  witnesses  inclusive  of  the  Sahidic ;  they  read  in  all  alike : 

fxr)  ^lI3X.o<;  y  y/oa/x/Aarev?  fxoL  irapidT-qKiv, 
Lva  avOpcDTTOV  icTTrjKios  Karaa-LOiTTycnx).^ 

When  arranged  in  order  with  20  6,  the  Hebrew  represented  reads 
approximately  as  follows : 

'adam  is  accusative  of  comparison,  and  the  subject  of  *amar,  being  a  case 
of  brachylogy,  is  to  be  construed  also  as  object  with  the  circumstantial 
clauses  'eqrob  and  'ahdshoe.  The  Alexandrian  translators,  though 
they  carefully  reproduced  the  wording  of  the  clause,  neither  understood 

1  The  middle  clause,  missing  in  Gk.  in  the  other  Codd.,  is  found  in  Codd. 
K,  Prs.  249  and  147 ;    idi/  etir-Q  dv-qp  Karatrodi^areTai. 


284  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

the  accusative  of  comparison,  nor  recognized  the  implied  object  of  its 
verb.  Mot  Trapea-rrjKev,  meaning  "  defends  me "  ("  helps  me ")/ 
renders  accurately  jedahber  li,  which  with  the  meaning  "  speak  in 
behalf  "  of  a  person  or  "  plead  his  case  "  occurs  again  II  Ki.  4.  13 ;  as 
to  the  expression  sefer  and  'eqrob,  cf.  31.  35ff.,  and  as  to  the  thought 
of  the  verse  as  a  whole,  cf.  9.  32f.  The  present  environment  of  verse 
20  is  no  doubt  responsible  for  the  fact  that  the  importance  of  its 
reading  in  the  Greek  has  been  overlooked  by  the  critics.  Had  the 
verse  come  down  in  its  original  sequence  the  value  of  the  Greek  text 
would  no  doubt  have  been  recognized. 

XXIII.  13  And  since  He  hath  thus  ordained  for  me.  Instead  of 
be'ehad,  the  original  text,  as  Budde  and  Beer  recognized,  read  "^03  — a 
readmg  which,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  is  supported  also  by  Gk.,  iKpivev. 
From  Gk.  ovtid^,  which  ui  Sah.  is  preceded  by  mmoi,  "  for  me,"  it  is 
safe  to  conclude  that  in  the  original  text  bahar  was  followed  by  "b}^_ 
nxi.  As  to  ovTois,  it  is  fairly  evident  that  it  must  have  been  read  by 
the  Hebrew  original  of  the  Greek,  for  bemg  without  correlative  in  its 
present  environment,  it  can  hardly  have  crept  into  the  Greek  in  the 
course  of  transmission ;  its  correlative  is  to  be  found  in  37.  20,  which 
23.  13  originally  followed.  As  to  mmoi  of  Sah.  pointing  to  the  original 
reading  bahar  'alaj,  note  that  bahar  'al,  meaning  "  ordain  "  or  ''  decree 
for,"  occurs  again  II  Sam.  19.  39,  and  that  wdth  the  same  meaning 
KpLvetv  is  used  repeatedly  in  New  Test,  and  Hellenistic  Greek  (cf .  e.g. 
Acts  16.  4,  21.  25,  III  Mace.  6.  30). 

14  His  decree.  Instead  of  huqqi,  read  in  accordance  with  Vulg. 
and  Syr.,  pn,  as  Grimme  correctly  emended. 

15.  The  following  additional  reading  of  v.  15  is  found  in  Gk.Cod.  /8  : 
dyvowj/  rrjq  7rXrjyr]<;  rr]v  aiTiav,  "  Because  I  know  not  the  cause  of  the 
affliction."  For  this  important  text  Cod.  /?  is  not  the  only  authority ; 
part  of  the  text,  somewhat  differently  phrased,  has  been  preserved  in 
all  Mss.  of  the  Greek,  being  read  in  v.  17  a,  which  originally  formed 
the  immediate  continuation  of  v.  15 :  ov  yap  rjSeLv  otl  IrreXevaeTai,  fxoi. 
It  became  contaminated  with  the  text  of  v.  17  a,  as  the  result  of  which 
rj  TrXrjyrj  dropped  out,  and  all  of  v.  17  a,  except  (tk6to<;.  A  trace  of  this 
text  in  the  Hebrew  may  still  be  seen  in  kl  lo'  of  v.  17  a,  the  lo^  of  which 
has  been  omitted  by  a  great  number  of  scholars  as  not  being  an  original 
part  of  17  a.  The  Hebrew  represented  by  the  Greek  read  probably 
as  follows:  ''?>:  2$<|  2^2n  ;:nD  ti^'T  ith  '3,  Because  I  know  not  why 

iCf.  the  New  Test,  expression  6  Trapeo-rrj/cws,  "bystander,"  "defender." 
2  6a'  is  participle. 


NOTES  285 

the  affliction  hath  come  upon  me.  The  genuineness  of  the  text  is  beyond 
doubt.  Not  only  does  it  fit  excellently  in  w.  15  and  17,  it  gives  these 
verses  a  content  and  a  point  which  are  otherwise  lacking.  And  the 
whole  thought  thus  obtained  is  strikingly  in  keeping  with  Job's  reason- 
ing throughout.  When  I  think  of  it,  I  am  dismayed.  The  pronominal 
suffix  of  mimmennu,  which  is  to  be  construed  with  both  verbs,  refers  to 
the  contents  of  the  preceding  clause. 

16  V.  16,  "  For  God  hath  made  my  heart  famt,  the  Almighty  hath 
terrified  me,"  does  not  belong  here.  The  verse  seems  to  be  a  variant 
of  27.  2,  presenting  in  all  probability  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  an  edi- 
tor to  take  the  harm  out  of  that  verse. 

17  I  am  overwhelmed  must  be  the  meaning  of  nismatti,  as  is  obvious 
from  by  the  darkness,  which  follows  it.  By  the  heavy  darkness  which 
envelopeth  my  vision.  That  v.  17  h,  as  it  reads  at  present,  is  faulty 
Hebrew  is  commonly  admitted.  To  my  mind,  the  preposition  mi  must 
originally  have  been  joined  to  'ofel,  making  the  half  verse  read: 
'J3  HDD  Sdndi.  —  As  to  min  used  with  the  passive,  cf.  24.  1. 

XXVIII.  1  to  be  refined.  The  third  plural  of  jazoqqu  is  impersonal 
construction. 

2  And  copper  tough-tissued  as  stone.  The  customary  translation 
of  V.  2  b,  "  And  copper  is  molten  out  of  the  stone,"  is  not  only  incom- 
patible with  the  fact  that  the  writer's  reference  is  to  what  man  by  his 
skill  and  intelligence  obtains  out  of  the  depths  of  the  earth,  it  is  gram- 
matically untenable,  for  the  masc.  form  jasuq  cannot  be  predicate  of  the 
fem.  'eben,  it  must  be  attributive  of  nehusha,  which  like  nehosheth  is 
masc. ;  as  to  its  meaning  tough-tissued,  cf.  11.  15,  37. 10,  38.  38,  41.  15f. 

3  Man  putteth  an  end.  The  original  text,  Bickell  and  others  rightly 
concluded,  must  have  read  Ql^  after  qes ;  this  is  not  only  shown  by  /m' 
of  V.  3  6,  an  indication  of  its  omission  may  be  seen  also  in  the  yaseq 
after  qes.  And  penetrateth  to  the  furthest  bounds  of,  etc.  The  odd 
expression,  "  the  stones  of  obscurity,  "  etc.,  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
original  text ;  omit  'eben  as  mistaken  repetition  from  the  preceding 
verse.  Though  'ojel  and  §almaweth  are  the  direct  objects  of  hoqer,  I 
have  for  the  sake  of  a  more  idiomatic  translation  combined  them  as 
genitives  with  to  the  furthest  bounds. 

4  Slave-people  bore  shafts.  It  may  be  inferred  from  Syr.,  'ama 
gijura,  and  from  the  plur.  of  the  verbs  of  the  relative  clause  formed  by 
v.  4  b,  that  the  original  text  read  —  with  different  word  division  — : 
nj  d;;  D'^nj.  By  'am  gar  "  captive  "  or  "  conquered  people  "  are 
meant,  cf.  I  Chron.  22.  2,  II  Chron.  2. 16f.     Which  wind  unfrequented 


286  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

by  feet,  wander  afar  from  men.  The  antecedent  of  the  compound 
relative  clause  is  nehalim:  the  meaning  of  dallu  is  not  ''hang"  or 
"depend,"  but  wind,  as  the  substantive  dallath,  "cm'ls"  or  ''braid," 
Cant.  7.  6,  shows ;  as  to  nd'u,  wander,  said  of  the  shafts,  cf .  the  similar 
expression  Prov.  5.  6,  "  her  ways  wander." 

5  They  lay  open.  At  the  beginning  of  the  verse  the  original  text 
read  ^^J,  which  has  been  preserved  by  Syr. 

6  in  her  paths.  Instead  of  Id,  read  in  accordance  with  Syr.,  n'm3'nj3 
—  a  reading  which  is  borne  out  also  by  nethib  of  v.  7. 

11  He  bindeth  up  the  sources  of  rivers.  Instead  of  mihheki,  vocalize, 
in  accordance  with  Gk.,  '?|?  (Wetzstein  and  others) :  the  subterranean 
sources  of  rivers  are  meant. 

13  the  way  to  it.  Instead  of  'erkah,  read,  in  accordance  with  Gk., 
•i^ll,  as  commonly  emended.  The  present  reading  'erkah  is  due  to 
adaptation  of  the  verse  to  the  interpolated  verses  15-19.  That  darkah 
must  have  been  the  original  reading  may  be  seen  also  from  v.  23. 

15-19,  20.  Verses  15-19  betray  themselves  at  a  glance  as  an  inter- 
polation. They  are  a  heterogeneous  element  in  the  chapter,  both  in 
thought  and  style.  They  deal  with  the  incomparable  value  of  ^dsdom, 
whereas  the  thought  brought  out  in  ch.  28  is  that  absolute  wisdom  rests 
with  God,  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  man  to  attain.  As  to  the  style, 
the  contrast  between  the  diffuseness  of  \^^  15-19  and  the  conciseness 
of  ch.  28  could  not  be  more  marked.  External  evidence  of  the  later 
addition  of  these  verses  is  found  in  v.  20,  which  is  a  meaningless  repeti- 
tion of  v.  12.  When  the  interpolator  wrote  w.  15-19  in  the  margin, 
either  at  the  bottom  or  the  top  of  the  page,  he  added  v.  12  as  a  cue  to 
indicate  that  they  be  inserted  after  this  verse.  As  usual  in  such  cases, 
the  later  copyist  paid  no  attention  to  the  cue,  but  inserted  the  inter- 
polated verses,  cue  and  all,  at  random. 

25  When  He  made.     Read,  on  the  ground  of  v.  26,  rw^iJ^. 

28  And  concerning  man.  It  is  e\ddent  from  the  context  that  this, 
and  not  "  unto  man,"  must  be  the  meaning  of  le. 

XXXVIII— XL.  14,  XLII.  1-9,  11. 

XXXVIII.  Iff.    See  Introduction,  pp.  61ff . 

1.  Verse  1,  as  I  pointed  out,  p.  64,  cannot  be  original.  We  have  no 
means,  however,  of  ascertaining  how  God's  apparition  amidst  the 
storm  was  introduced.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  40.  6,  8,  with  Job's 
reply,  40.  3-5,  42.  2-6,  which  originally  followed  the  former,  shows 
that  God  does  not  address  Himself  directly  to  Job,  until  He  has  finished 


NOTES  287 

the  various  questions  regarding  the  laws  governing  the  universe,  which 
(as  I  showed)  are  addressed  to  the  friends.    As  I  stated,  p.  64,  from 
38.  21  it  may  be  inferred  that  EHphaz,  as  the  eldest  of  the  friends,  was 
most  likely  the  one  spoken  to  by  God. 
2.     The  Greek  of  the  verse  reads  : 

TtS  OUTOS  6   KpVTTTiDV  flC  ^OvXyVj 

(Tvve)((DV  Se  prjfwra  iv  KapBta,  ifik  Se  otcrat  KpvwTeLv. 

The  reading  of  this  verse  is  identically  the  same  in  all  the  Mss.  and 
daughter-translations,  inclusive  of  the  Sahidic,  and  is  furthermore 
authenticated  by  the  parallel  42.  3.  The  Hebrew  represented  by  the 
Greek  read  very  likely  as  follows : 

Note  that  ina^lim  'esa  has  been  preserved  in  the  Hebrew  in  the  parallel 
passage  42.  3.  As  to  hosek,  this  reading  is  established  beyond  doubt 
by  the  fact  that  in  the  parallel  passage,  42.  3,  the  word  is  rendered  with 
^et8o/A€i/o?. 

XL.  2.  The  verse  certainly  does  not  belong  in  its  present  place.  Nei- 
ther can  it  belong  to  the  words  addressed  to  Job  by  God,  since  the  con- 
tents of  40.  8  as  preserved  in  the  Greek  clearly  preclude  this.  The  verse 
must  originally  have  been  read  after  38.  2,  to  which  it  forms  a  fitting 
continuation.  Will  he  shun  dispute  with  the  Almighty?  Instead 
of  jissor,  vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  fxrj  Kpta-Lv  fiera  'Ikuvov 
ckkXivcl,  i=id^  Note  that  jissor  is  a  doubtful  word-formation,  as 
has  been  pointed  out  by  Barth ;  there  is  no  other  example  of  it.^  God 
will  answer  him  that  dealt  rebuke.  Instead  of  the  fem.  suffix  nah, 
read  masc.  suffix  1J~,  in  accordance  with  avrco  and  avTov  respectively 
of  Gk.  Codd.  /8  K  3  Prs.  S^.  Hie.  —  a  reading  which  is  also  that  of  Vulg. 
and  Targ. ;  further,  in  accordance  with  Targ.,  construe  'eloha  as  sub- 
ject with  ja'dnoe,  and  mokih,  as  object.  By  that  dealt  rebuke  the 
rebuke  administered  by  the  friends  to  Job  is  meant. 

XXXVIII.  8  Who  shut  up?  Read,  in  accordance  with  Vulg.,  ^D  ^D 
(Merx  and  many  others) .  From  the  lap  of  Mother  Earth.  By  merehem, 
which,  as  in  3.  11,  and  19.  17,  is  elliptical  for  rehem  'em,  the  lap  of 
Mother  Earth  is  meant.  The  universal  notion  of  Mother  Earth  has  left 
its  deep  imprint  on  Hebrew  as  on  every  other  literature,  ancient  or 
modern.  In  proof  of  this  it  may  suffice  for  our  purposes  to  quote  from 
Ben  Sira  40.  1,  "  From  the  day  that  he  came  from  his  mother's  womb 

1  Die  Nominalbildung  in  den  Semitischen  Sprachen  (1894),  p.  50. 


288  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

until  the  day  that  he  will  return  unto  the  Mother  of  everything 
living." 

10  a  boundary.  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Syr.,  pn  (Sieg- 
fried and  others) . 

13-15.  The  present  reading  of  vv.  13  h  and  15  a  cannot  possibly  be 
original.  The  idea  of  shaking  the  wicked  out  of  the  earth  of  13  h,  is, 
to  say  the  least,  far-fetched,  but  the  attributing  of  such  an  effect  to 
the  daily-recurring  da^Ti  is  altogether  absurd.  Nor  can  "  From  the 
wicked  their  light  is  withdrawn  "  of  15  a  be  defended  on  the  ground  of 
24.  17,  for  this  verse  merely  says,  "  Dense  darkness  taketh  with  them 
the  place  of  the  morning  "  (because  they  carry  on  their  metier  at 
night),  and  not,  as  has  been  said,  "  Die  Nacht  ist  das  Tageslicht  der 
Frevler."  The  defense  of  the  present  text  of  the  half  verses  is  the  more 
inconsistent,  as  we  have  in  the  'Ain  suspensum  external  proof  that  the 
reading  r&sha'im  is  the  work  of  the  latest  text  re\dsionists.  The  con- 
text, to  my  mind,  leaves  no  doubt  that  instead  of  resha'lm,  the  text 
originally  read  D'?313  in  both  13  b  and  15  a.  The  latter  And  from  the 
stars  is  withdrawn  their  light,  is  a  variant  (which  doubtless  originated 
with  the  writer  liimself)  of  the  former.  And  the  stars  are  shaken 
out  of  it  —  i.e.  properly  out  of  the  sky  overhanging  the  earth ;  note 
that  in  Is.  40.  22  the  sky  is  spoken  of  as  ''  the  arch  of  the  earth." 
The  third  plur.  jithjassebu  of  v.  14  6  is  later  adaptation  to  resha'im ;  the 
original  text  must  have  read  :^Tr\r\\ ;  And  it  standeth  robed  as  in  a  gar- 
ment. V.  15  b,  the  original  text  of  which  read  "^Si^r^,  as  Gk.  o-werpti/^a?, 
Sjmi.  awTpCxpa^  show,  got  in  here  from  40. 11-13,  to  which  it  originally 
belonged  (see  below).  By  the  emendation  made,  yy.  13-15  a  are  seen 
to  be  highly  poetic,  and  to  fit  excellently  in  their  context.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  as  a  somewhat  analogous  case  to  the  text-change 
which  these  verses  have  suffered,  that  22.  12  6,  ''  Behold  the  starry 
dome,  how  high  it  is,"  reads  in  the  Greek  version :  .  .  .  €<^o/oa,  Tov<i 
Se  v/?pet  (fjepofxevovs  krairuvwcrev. 

17  the  doorkeepers.     Vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  ^^.&  (Duhm). 

20  Lead  it.     Instead  of  tahin  read  ^^?'?^,  as  commonly  emended. 

21.  Verse  21,  as  stated  before,  is  clearly  an  ironic  reference  to  Eliphaz' 
claim,  15.  10,  to  superior  wisdom  by  reason  of  his  old  age. 

24  where  the  wind  is  parted.  Instead  of  'or,  read  with  Ewald  and 
many  others,  nn  —  an  emendation  clearly  indicated,  not  only  by  the 
context,  but  also  by  the  grammatical  construction;  the  connection 
of  the  second  clause  without  waw  would  be  impossible,  if  different  phe- 
nomena were  referred  to. 

25.    It  is  but  natural  that  our  writer  should  speak  of  the  thunderbolt 


NOTES  289 

conjointly  with  torrential  rain,  for  in  Palestine  torrential  rains  invari- 
ably accompany  thunderstorms. 

26-27.  These  verses  find  their  explanation  in  the  widespread  popular 
notion  that  there  is  no  dew  in  uncultivated  desert  zones,  and  that  it  is 
only  through  cultivation  of  the  soil  that  in  desert  lands  the  rain  belt 
is  extended  farther  and  farther.  This  notion  underlies  also  Gen.  2.  5, 
*'  And  no  plant  of  the  field  was  yet  in  the  earth,  and  no  herb  of  the  field 
had  yet  sprung  up ;  for  Yaweh  God  had  not  let  it  rain  upon  the  earth, 
there  being  no  men  to  till  the  soil."  V.  27  b  should  by  no  means  be 
emended ;  the  meaning  of  mosa^  seems  to  me  to  be  bud,  as  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  fact  that  like  Aram.  je'a\  Hebr.  jasa^  may  mean  "  to 
blossom  "  and  "  to  bud,"  cf.  14.  2,  Nu.  17.  23,  Is.  11. 1. 

28  Hath  the  rain  a  father?  In  explanation  of  the  question  it  may 
be  noted  that  in  Arabia  the  southwest  wind,  which  is  the  rainbringer, 
is  called  "  the  father  of  rain."  The  same  expression,  I  have  been  told 
by  a  Scotch  fisherman,  is  in  Gaelic  folktales  applied  to  the  wind  in 
general,  since  the  wind  produces  rain.  Note  also  Prov.  25.  23,  "  The 
North  wind  (the  Northwest  wind  is  meant)  bringeth  forth  (teljiolel) 
rain." 

32  The  bear  with  her  young.    See  the  remarks  on  9.  9. 

36  Who  hath  put  wisdom  in  the  Phoenix?  Or  who  hath  given 
understanding  to  the  cock?  The  meaning  of  tuhoth  and  sekwi  is  un- 
certain. If  however  the  traditional  interpretation  cock  for  sekibz  may 
be  accepted,  then  by  tuhoth  the  Phoenix  may  possibly  be  meant.  I 
base  my  inference  on  Greek  Bar.  Apoc.  6.  7,  "  The  rustling  of  the 
wings  of  the  Phoenix,  the  forerunner  of  the  sun,  wakes  the  cocks, 
which  then  by  their  crowing  proclaim  the  coming  of  the  dawn."  Doubt- 
less some  mythological  notion  underlies  "  the  rustling  of  the  wings  of 
the  Phoenix,  the  forerunner  of  the  sun." 

38  to  the  firmness  of  rock.     See  remarks  on  11.  15. 

41  circling  through  the  air  is  the  meaning  jith'u  has  here. 

XXXIX.  3  their  young,  hebel,  as  Barth,  Wurzeluntersuchungen^ 
p.  15,  has  shown,  means  "  fetus,"  and  "  the  young  ";  jaldehem,  which 
is  missmg  in  Ms.  Ken.  223,  is  a  gloss. 

8  He  explores.  Vocalize,  hi  accordance  with  the  versions,  '^^^l  as 
commonly  emended. 

10  Canst  thou  tie  him  with  ropes  to  the  furrow?  Omit,  in  accord- 
ance with  Gk.,  rem,  which  is  dittography  of  rem  of  v.  9,  and  read  r\'i3;^.3  ^ 
the  suffix  of  which  is  due  to  mistaken  transposition  of  w  and  t ;  rem 
of  V.  9,  being  a  case  of  brachylo^,  is  to  be  construed  also  as  object  with 
tiqshor. 


290  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

13-19.  Verses  13-19,  which  are  missing  in  the  Greek,  are  rightly 
regarded  by  many  scholars  as  an  interpolation.  Unlike  the  rest  of  the 
speech  of  God,  they  ask  no  questions  regarding  the  characteristics  of 
the  ostrich,  but  limit  themselves  to  a  description  of  its  habits.  Nor 
does  God  appear  in  these  verses  as  the  speaker,  in  fact,  he  is  referred 
to  in  V.  17  in  the  third  person. 

21  He  paweth.  Instead  of  jahperu,  read  in  accordance  with  the 
versions  *^3ni,  as  commonly  emended.  Full  of  mettle,  he  goeth  forth 
to  battle.  Contrary  to  the  accent,  bekoh,  the  be  of  which  is  be  essentiae, 
is  to  be  construed  with  jese\  as  the  Greek  construed  it.  As  in  Ps.  140. 
8,  nesheq  denotes  battle. 

24  at  the  sound  of  the  battle-horn.  Either  nishma'  dropped  out  at 
the  end  of  24  b  or  leqol  is  to  be  read,  instead  of  kl  qol. 

26  to  the  storm  from  the  South.  As  in  Ps.  78.  26,  Cant.  4.  16, 
teman  means  the  South  wind,  which  brings  storms  (cf.  37.  9). 

28  On  the  jag  of  the  clifiE,  on  the  peak  of  the  fortress :  shen  forms  a 
zeugma,  governing  both  sela'  and  mesuda. 

XL.  9-14,  as  both  the  interrogative  form  and  the  contents  of  40.  9 
indicate,  must  originally  have  followed  immediately  after  the  series 
of  questions  addressed  to  the  friends  in  chs.  38-39.  They  form  a 
most  satisfactory  conclusion,  as  shown  p.  63f . 

11,  12.  In  accordance  with  Gk.,  re'e  is  to  be  omitted  in  both  v.  11  6 
and  V.  12  a,  and  ui  the  latter  also  kol  ge'ce  is  to  be  omitted  as  dittog- 
raphy.  V.  11  5  read  probably:  hashpel  kol  ge'ce.  As  to  the  original 
reading  of  v.  12  a,  it  is  not  possible  to  arrive  at  a  positive  conclusion. 
Instead  of  hakni'ehu,  the  text  may  have  read  hakna',  followed  by  an 
object  which  got  lost,  and  by  38.  15  b,  uzero'a  rama  tishbor  (see  38.  15) ; 
or  hakni'ehu  may  be  a  variant  of  hashpilehu,  and  38.  15  b  alone  may 
have  constituted  the  original  text  of  v.  12  a. 

13  in  the  dust  of  the  grave.  As  in  7.  21, 17. 16, 21.  26,  'afar  is  ellipsis 
for  'afar  maweth.  V.  13  b  as  it  reads  at  present  is  evidently  corrupt ; 
we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  original  text. 

7.  V.  7,  which  is  a  verbatim  repetition  of  38.  3,  got  in  ch.  40  very 
likely  with  40.  2.  When  the  latter  verse  was  omitted  after  38. 2,  it  was 
put  in  a  blank  space,  with  38.  3  repeated  as  cue ;  the  present  place  of 
V.  7  no  doubt  marks  a  subsequent  stage  in  the  text-disorder,  traces 
of  which  may  be  seen  also  in  the  present  position  of  both  vv.  9-14  and 
vv.  4-5.  That  v.  7  got  m  here  from  38.  3  is  also  the  view  of  Bickell 
and  others. 

8.  The  original  text  of  v.  8,  as  I  pointed  out  p.  62f.,  has  been  pre- 
served in  the  Greek.     It  reads  as  follows : 


NOTES  291 


fjiif  awoTroLov  jxov  to  Kptfia. 

o'Ul  Si  /xe  aXAws  crot  K€)(pr]fMaTiK€vaL  rj  tva  ava<f)avfj^  St/caios. 

The  retranslation  of  the  verse  into  Hebrew  cannot  be  attempted,  since 
the  Greek  does  not  give  a  sufficient  clew  to  the  sentence-structure  of 
the  Hebrew  of  8  6. 

XL.  3-5,  XLII.  1-6.  Verse  8  was  originally  followed  by  Job's 
answer  which  comprises  40.  3-5  and  42.  2-6.^  We  have  an  indication 
that  these  verses  belong  together  in  the  fact  that  40.  3  is  verbatim  the 
same  as  42.  1  —  a  fact  which  may  be  explained  in  much  the  same  way 
as  the  recurrence  of  38.  3  in  40.  7.  When,  at  an  early  date  in  the 
text-transmission,  the  two  opening  verses  of  Job's  answer  were  omitted 
from  their  original  place,  they  were  put  in  the  margin,  with  the  formu- 
lary verse,  "  Job  answered  and  said,"  repeated  as  cue.  The  present 
place  of  42.  1-6  is  the  result  of  the  insertion  of  the  descriptions  of  the 
hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile,  which,  a  number  of  scholars  rightly 
hold,  are  later  additions  to  the  original  speech  of  God.  These  de- 
scriptions are  so  diffuse,  so  altogether  different  in  style  from  the  genuine 
parts  of  the  speech  of  God,  that  they  cannot  be  taken  as  the  work 
of  the  same  author. 

XL.  5  but  will  not  again.  Instead  of  the  hardly  intelligible  ^e^ems 
read  ^^^^^  as  Hitzig  and  many  others  have  rightly  emended  on  the 
ground  of  the  parallelism ;   cf .  also  29.  22. 

42.  2  that  nothing  is  impossible  with  Thee.  Instead  of  mezimma, 
read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  HDiJ^rp  (Hoffman  and  others). 

3  The  Hebrew  of  v.  3  is  fragmentary,  the  original  text  has  been 
preserved  by  the  Greek: 

Tt9  yap  icTiv  6  KpvTTTOiv  (T€  jSovX^v; 
<^eiSo/Aevos  8e  p-qfxdToiv,  kol  (xk  oUrat  KpvwTeiv ; 
Tt's  Se  dvayyeXcl  fxoL  a  ovk  iJSeiv 

In  accordance  with  the  Gk.,  ml  zee  ma%m  ^esa  in  v.  3  a  may  be  supple- 
mented tentatively  as  follows : 

^QD  DTJ^Qi  who  ^tyinn  ^idd 

In  v.  3  6  laken  is  to  be  omitted  and  in  its  place  '?  is  to  be  read 
before  higgadtl  and  li  da'ath  is  to  be  placed  after  it,  reading :  Tnjn  ""D 

1  That  42.  2-6  originally  followed  40.  3-5  is  also  the  view  of  Budde  and 
Beer-K. 


292  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

4  V.  4,  "  Hear,  and  I  will  speak,  I  will  ask  thee,  and  declare  thou 
unto  me,"  is  not  an  original  part  of  Job's  answer,  as  several  scholars 
rightly  hold.  It  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  13.  22,  and  is  to  my  mind 
a  revision  of  this  verse  by  a  later  editor. 

6  Therefore,  though  I  am  wasting  away,  I  am  comforted  for  my 
lot  of  dust  and  ashes.  Instead  of  'em^as,  vocalize,  in  accordance  wdth 
Gk.,  Oi<m  (Beer-K.).  The  present  reading  is  to  be  explained  by 
the  fact  that,  as  in  7.  5,  the  tone-long  vowel  was  indicated  by  a  vowel- 
letter,  and  was  not  recognized.  The  meaning  wasting  away  cannot 
be  questioned,  since  the  word  repeatedly  denotes  "  vanish  "  (cf.  Jud. 
15.  14,  Mic.  1.  4)  and  in  Ps.  112.  10  is  used  as  equivalent  to  Engl.  "  die 
with  envy  "  (Germ.  "  vergehen  ").  As  to  nihamtl  'al,  I  am  comforted 
for,  as  Merx  and  Bickeli -rightly  rendered  it,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
it  was  already  understood  in  this  sense  by  the  Targum.  The  figura- 
tive use  of  'afar  for  humiliation  is  too  well  known  to  require  any  com- 
ment :  the  additional  'efer  (found  again  Gen.  18.  27)  lends  emphasis. 

7  After  Job  had  spoken  all  these  words.  In  v.  7  a  the  original  text,  in- 
stead ofjhwh,  read  'Ijob,  omitting  'eV  I  job ;  this  original  reading  has  been 
preserved  by  both  the  Sahidic,  asshope  de  mmisa  tre  job  ivo  nneisha'^e 
teru,  and  the  Bohairic.  Ye  have  not  spoken  truthfully.  As  to  this 
meaning  of  nekona,  which  forms  here  an  adverbial  accusative,  cf.  Ps. 
5.  10  ''  No  truthfulness  is  in  their  mouths,"  also  51.  12,  et  al. 

As  to  7-9,  11,  forming  the  original  conclusion  of  Job,  see  hitroduc- 
tion,  pp.  64-69. 


PART  IV 


Contrary  to  the  original  plan,  as  indicated  in  the  Preface 
of  vocalizing  in  this  text-edition  only  the  emendations,  it  was 
at  the  last  moment  decided  to  vocalize  the  entire  text.  The 
various  emendations  , though  no  longer  differentiated  from  the 
rest  of  the  text,  are  fully  discussed  in  part  III.  Only  in  the 
following  instances  is  the  emendation  not  specified  in  the 
Notes:  —  (1)  12.25,  irajjith'u  in  accordance  with  Gk.; 
(2)  19.29,  shejesh  dajjdn,  on  the  strength  of  Targ.;  (3)  21.10, 
jerossu,  in  accordance  with  Syr.  and  Vulg.;  (4)  37.7,  'enosh, 
in  accordance  with  Vulg. 

The  colon  (:)  at  the  end  of  the  verse  has  for  obvious 
reasons  been  omitted  in  this  text-edition  whenever  verse- 
and  sentence-division  do  not  coincide. 


«-l'i  ipi)  on  fc^inn  B)^«n  |n;nj  1w  ni»«  j^^yn^n  n^n  tt?'«      i 
injpa  'nn  :ni:3  2)^b)i  a^n  n^niy  1^  nbv^  :y"ia  -idi  D^n"V«     2 

-!:••:-  IT  T    :  •  t  t    :   •  i  it--        ^    n~  t  :  •        vi 

-ip3  -td:^  ni«D  K;Dm  d^^d:  '£)b»«  ntj;'?^^^  i^ii^-'sb'N  n^nty 
'bjD  ^113  H^nri  E)"'«n  "Tin  -i«p  n^n  n^inyi  ni^int^  nixp  B;pm 
ntj^W^  i«"ipi  inb»K)i  IDV  ij)'i<  n'3  nnra  ityyi  v n  iD^m  : D"rp-»33     4 

I     •  :  I  ir :  :  it   :  ■  -         v  :      ■  t  :       t  t  :   it  :  v  I  iv    -    : 

nVt2^»]  nmrpn  'p;  iD^pn  '3  'n;i  ronDV  n1nB;Vl  ^i^^^  D7n;nyi     5 
ar«  im  '3  d'pd  -istpp  nib'y  n^^ni  npan  D^3e?m  DK;"ip;i  ai*« 
n:i2b2  D'n^«  i^nni  ^n  ^«t3n  '^i« 

tt:*  ••.•!  :i"  -T  SIT         - 

n^'nnb  n'Tihia  'n  i^nn  Dl»n  'n^i  :D'D»n  ^3  n1»&<  ni^i?'  hdd     6 

~  -   ,      .      5  ..„„„.  ^_  _  .     ._  I-   T  -  T  •  V      -:|-  T     T 

IT  :      I  T  T     -  -  T-        T      : 

tI"--Itt-  V  t:  r 

:n3  ^^nnnpi  yi^n  mm  ^m^]  nin;-nK  ]mr\  ]vi} 

ITT"  T  T      :  r         - 

n«?  ^nb3  ]'« '3  ni'«  nnv'bv  ^^V  nwn 
:y"iQ  "IDT  u'7ihi<  Hi'  im  an  ^'h 

^    n  ••  T  :  •         v:  •• :         t    T :  T 

:D'n^«  3l»N  t<"T  D3nn 

r         vj  •  "T         T  •    -: 

in'2i-ii7n^  iirn  ri3^  n«  «^rj       10 
:r:iDr:i  'ib'im''b:D  -rrni 

•    T    •  V    -:  T  -    : 

:p«a  ps  Mypiy\  nDi3  vt  ntyyo 

I      V  rr   T      I       -  T  "I  :    •         T    :     -  ••  tt         "    —.  t- 

V    —.  T    :     ^  -:       l:rr        t  -:  t  : 

iiDin'  ^'^Q'bv  ifh'ni< 

tI»:it:       Itt  - 


296  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

]DB^n-^«  7\p]  nm^i       12 

I      TT  ~    '        ■  "  T     "       I  -         I     VT    J  V      -;  T 

writ]  D'^D'tji  vni3T  V331  nvri  ^n;]  :nin;  ':b  dvd  ]mr\  «:^n    13 
im']  ni'«"V«  fc<3  '^^hD^  niD2;3  Dn'n«  n^nn  ]::    u 

»T  •!  t  -t:-  rt  "It--  t: 

r-n'b  "Tanb»  nnb  '3«"p-i  niob^D^i 
-iD^"!  «3  nn  niiiD  n?  niy       16 

-    I  I  -  •   T  :  -        I  -  -    :     •  -  •   -  T     "      I    •  T    :  IT  •         vi  ~ 

:i^  I'rh  n2b  '3«-p-i  hdVd^i 

I  IT  '    Z     '  '   Z     '  •—       I  -  TJT-IT 

-io«h  «3  nn  "i:mD  nr  niy       17 

-         -  T  v:  "-:  v'         ^ 

mnp»]  D'V??2n-^y  ^t^?)sn_  dt«1  nK)'?^)  m^p  d^b^d 
:i^  Tan"?  nab* ';«  pn  n^b'Dsi  nnn-^sV  isn  Dnyan-n^i 

-iD^'l «?  nn  "I31D  nr  ni?       18 
nlDnn  Dn'n«  n'32  ]".  D'ntjn  d'V?^  "^'rani  "^'ja 

nnnon  nns;»  1  n«3  n'^ina  nn  nam       19 

TZ--  r    ~    "     '         TT  T  :-  -•: 

^mon  Dnyan-^i?  ^s'l  n^iin  nias  y^n^n  yan 
:i^  Tan^  nab*  'a«"p-i  nDb^sxi 

liT  •-:  •-:        •  -.     I       -  TIT-IT 

nnnfyn  n^-i«  bii'^  imi-n^  m  1b»i;p•n^^  ynp'i  nv«  npn.    20 

-iD«']    21 

nDiy  31K)«  0^1171  'Q«  ]D3D  'H!^'  0*11; 

TT  T  TI'-Itt-  -TT  T 

i^'pD  nin;  db;  n;  npb*  ninn.  ]na  nim 
:Dn''7^<b'  nb'sn  iria-«Vl  ^i'^  «9n"«"V  n^rVaa       22 
iDts^n-Da  «i3'i  nim"b»i;  n:^'nrh  onb'^n  ^aa  i«ii»i  Din  n;i    2 

:DDri3 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  297 


y-ip  -ID]  D'n^«  «i!  iB^:i  an  w^m 
:D3n  iy^n'?  in  '^n^om  insnn  pvng  in„^i 

T  I  IT     :  IT  :       I    V  T  T 

li?  i'^n  pjsp  yi  i'n??3  ni»«-n«  t.1  ^F!  '5?  "«»  19?^n  «^n     7 
-iD«ni  ns^rriina  n2)v  «ini  in  -^l^rfp  ty-jn  ib^-np.']  nipnp     s 

iw^i*? 

:nD]  D'n^  Tin  "^jriDnn  p^rn?  -^nj; 
nnin  ni^nan  nn«  -inin  n^ />«  id^'i       10 
^np3  vh  y-jn  n«i  D'n^«n  n«p  ^np3  nlDTn«  03 
"  : vnstyn  ni'«  «Dn-t^"/^  n«t"'7Dn 

IT    T    t        •  •  T     T  I  T      • 

tt?^«  i«nn  v^v  n«nn  nviJ^n  n«  ni't^  'ri  inK;'?ty  lyott^p.    11 
nn^  ni;^n  'noyan  nDi:^i  'nwn  -n^ni  '?D^nn  T^'V^?  iOj:>?P 
mn  ^r^y:Dri  i6)  pin-jp  Dn\ry-n«  ^m}  :^m:^^  ^hn^:h  «in?    12 
:nD'Dt^n  on^i^^-i-^y  nsy  ip-ii;'i  iVrp  tt^'ti;  lyip'i  innn  D^ip 

t:itt-  V"  T  -  ttI:'"- 

^«n  '3  -in-i  vb'^  nn'i-i'^]  nib^'^  n^nKn  D^p;  nynty  in«  ne);i    13 

nb<D  nxnn  ^irn 


298  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:-a3  nan  -id«  n^^^m  13  i^ifc^  Di^  inx''         3 

-IT--  -T  t:--:  "T! 

miy  'D'3  -Tn^-'?^^  ^^^^  ^nnp'  «inn  rh'bri        e 

TT         -      •  ~  "  "  "  "It-  t  . 

IT  -  •      t:  -    :     •     : 

itt:  t-  :-•:  -t. 

17-1"  T    T  ..    ;  --       •    :     •  "    ;      -         -  T 

^m]  'm^\  ]9?p  mQ«  amp  ^h  hd^       ii 

'^  mi  I  T«  'ri:2);  ^PP^]  '^^^P  ^W?       ^3 
1D^  nl3-in  jynn  p&<  ':^i;''T  do^jd-di?       14 

IT  tt:  --Ivt         "-::  -ti 

:nD3  an'ns  d^^^ddh  dh'?  nnr  ong?  dv  i«       15 

Ivrr  v"T  •:-:!-  vt  tt  -t 

:m  'w  im3'  Dt2)i  nn  i^in  d'i;k)-i  dk;       17 

-    I         ~     ■  :  T         t    :       V  :  it  t       .         t 

:m  bp  ^ypig  «^  i^^t^B)  Dn'p^$  "in:  is 

:vnm  't^sn  nayi  «in  dk)  ^iiji  jbp  19 

tysj  no^  Q"m  "ilx  ^pvV  W.  ^?^  20 

D'jlDtJDD  in"iBnn  ^3r«i  ni?^  aonon  21 

-ing  i«:^d:  ^3  ity^ty;  b^T^^?  D^riDts^Li  22 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  299 

:i"Ti7n  ni'?^^  iD'i  mnoa  lD-nne)«  "in^^       23 

I  -:  I-      -  v:        I  V  T-  T  T    :    •  :    -          v     -:  v  v  : 

vn'^m  n]rpD  ^jm  «3n  'nm«  'Dvh  '33^"'?       24 
i^'?  ^<3;  -'nyi  '\p^}  'rnbjn  'n"jn9  ins  '3       25 

VI  T-        •     :  T  I         •     :  I  -T  :    '       •    :  -  T 

nDi^'^  '3D'nn  iB'bi^  ]V'^  4 

ibjv  'D  d^Vp?  "12^V1  n«b»n  "^i'^^  "inn  hd^h  2 

:p?nn  nl£)"i  onn  D^m  r\iD'>  n^n  3 

lymn  niyni)  D's-jni  '?i'>'p  ]iD'p]  ^b;13  4 

ibn^ni  '^nv  y^n  «brii  "q'V^  Kian  inni;  '3  5 

:nnD3  anty'  ns^t^i  -t3«  'p3  ^<^^  'd  «r-iDT        7 

it:-  -t:  -:  ttI-t  •  t  t: 

:im2^P'  %v  'y-ih  ]i«  ■'lyin  ^n^^i  nK;«3        8 

r  t  I  :  •  T    T         -     :  I  :     I V  T        •■       :   i  •       •      t         -.•    -:  i- 

:^bD]  is«  nnpi  nn^'  nl^tj  nQK)3p        9 
nyn:  nn^s^  '3u)i  ^n^;  ^Ipi  nn«  n^t^c;       10 

^  IT  •  •      •     t        -  •     :  -  T  I     :         "    :  -  -  -:  i- 

IT  T    :  •  •    T       ••  ;  I    V  T         •    :    • 

i^n:^  yM  'm  npni  nar  "ini  '^«]       12 

I*  T  -:  -  T     ••    :  -  :   •  t  :  -  :  r  i-  •     •    :      • 

tTHDH  'nlD:^i7  3hi  n"7i;ni  '3«np  in^       14 

r:»         -  :-  :  tt:         --tI:  -- 

mm  mw  "iDDn  n^Vn'  '3S-^y  nm       15 
:yw«  ^1pi  HDD-T  'yv  iy:h  htidd 

^  IT  :     V            It  t   t     :      t    ••          vv  :          t          : 

V  IT          -    :   •            -    ^  ,..  .      I       ,  .   .      _           v:  1"                T«  I- 

rTT:iT            -T          tt:-:  I--:i-                       tt-:i-I~ 

T         I          TTi»         V-:  r             -T-si         !'S 


300  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

rr       -  :    •  :     -t 

:nn«''  n:^^^  wm  '>^:id  idd'  nny^  -iplsD  20 

:nDDn3  «^i  imo'  on  D"in'  yDr^^■^^  21 

it:ti  :  T  T  1  ;   •    '^    -  •  i-: 

:nwp  n^Dn  nnsi  tyi?D-nn;i  ^nt^^  2 

IT  :  I  •  •    T  r  -    T  T  -:  I-  •  v«  iv 

ib'^D  y^]  "ly^n  ^«3Ti  y2);p  vn  iprj")'  4 
^D^''  3i;-i  ^i:^p'  im  5 

IT   T  -    :   •  1  T     T  -:  r-        I  v  t  t    t  t-  "  ~  i      '       • 

r     T  :      •  •      t  •         vt  r  :  -  t  :  v        ■  -.  x 

iBDfp  yiriv  ni^bs:  "ipn  i'ni  n'h'iy  7\\p)^  9 

:ni:f^n  '3S"^y  d]d  rh]2)]  }^n«  'JS-'?;?  "li??  iniin  10 

:];pi  ^2W  Dnipi  niiDb  whsp  nw^  11 

n»t2;n  dh't  nrtj^yn  ^<'^^  D'ony  nl^mo  nsD  12 

IT-     r.  T        -:         T    V     -:  I-  :  •  ~  :      i    -  -    - 

mnDJ  D'bns:  n:^D^  DD"ii;n  o^DDn  id"^  13 

titi-  -t:'  :r-  t:t:  t: 

Dnn2^3  wm'  ^\b'bD^  -^m  m^'  ddv  14 

]vni<  pjn  -T'.p=i  DH'sp  3"inp  y?)']  15 

179  n^sf?  nn^yi  nipn  ^i'?  ^nrn.  le 

rDfcjDn-'^t^  np  "ididi  ni'?^  lanpi;  i^i3«  nwi<  nri  17 

rnrsin  n^i  vno'  K)3nn  3^«d'  t<in  'd  is 

T    r.'     :   •  tt:     I     -    :    •  t    z  v :  •     :  - 

:yn  "^a  yr  ^'V  ly^S??^  Ti^'^l  ^"i*i?  ^^?  19 

rnnn  'TP  nonVp^i  niDp  -^ns  nyns  20 

:«13',  'D  liB^p  x-i'n"«'?i  «3nn  jIk)^  Dit^n  21 

:«Tri-^«  f •n«n  n!nai  pnti^n  ]Djb'^  itJ^V  22 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  301 

:r1^^^  nty^D  •^i^t^:^^:^!  ■nyiT  m-'s  ni;T;       25 

I      V  IT  T  •.•••;        I     V    T  VI  IV  :       I  r     :-  -       r      T    j     -it: 

:i^'yi  nri«i  njyo?^  «'n-l?  nunpn  nt^rnan       27 

nnnw!  n]mD:i  'ri'^ni  'K^y?  ^pg^:  ^ip^;  ^i'?        2 
ny^  nn"^  i^-b^y  tiid:  d'p:  ^Ino  nn^-'D        3 

T  T    T  -:         V    -;  •  T    •  --         ••    • 

•      I      :  -I-    -  -n       '•     ^    • 

ran'?  '113  HDH  'K?£)3  17133^  n3«D  7 

,.    :    -       ~    :  •  T   ••        •      :  -     -       :  •  t  -:  i- 

:rilV«  in:  'nipni  'n^«^  inun  ]r)]->D        8 
b^D^'  i<b  rh^n:!  ^1bDi<^  'nam  iiynm       10 

s-  r      I    :  t:--:i~'TTv  ^         •: 

:i2?np  nD«  'ninp  i<b->D 
:nir;im  nra-D«  'n3  a'n«  n:D-D«       12 

T  J         'T     :  •         •  •  T  -:     -  ; 

•Bv;  's*         T*  :        •         •T5vl~ 

iniTi;'  HK?  n«"in  ion  mivid  dd^       14 

I  -:i-        —  -     :  •  :  v    t  r-    "  ••  t   - 

:nii^;L  d:d  'p's«5  ^m-lDJ  njs  ^ni^       15 

aW-D^ro:  iD'^y  nip""'3p  onnp;^       is 

:DDlpDD  ^3i;i3i  Dhn  inD:^:  mr  nya       17 


302  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

rnn^'i  inn?  "hm  dd-ji  nin-i«  ^nQ^]       is 

rlD^^np  H2p  n'D'^n  ^on  nln"i«  iio'^n       i9 

:nsn'i  7\nv  ^«2  in^n-'D  ii2)a       20 

ITIT^TTT  T  TT  r 

n«Tm  nnn  i«nn  '^7  arr^n  Dn«  is       21 

IT'-  --:  :•         •  r    •    n  »;l- 

:d|p  riDin  noi'-nD^  "ie)'-'-!D«  i:^n9rnD       25 
:m'\i  ''^^^^  nn /'I  umn  d^^d  nDln'^n       26 

IT  „..-  J  •-  ••  -  :i- 

rnlin  i'3;-«'V  '3n-D«  n^i:^  '3ltt)^3-K):n       30 
rng-'pi^  liy  int^i  n^ii;  'nn-'?^  ^<5  uk)       29 
VD'  "I'Dty  'DOT  r"i«-'b»r  B)13«^  «3:^"«"^n        7 

IT  T  •    T  ••         •    :      I        T  T  ••    —  •••!   r.-  T     T  I       : 

ITJIT  vl-:  *T5  "  '    ~    '■      '  TVI 

3"li;  IIDl  D1P«  'DD  'mO«l  '113  JBrD«  4 

TT  -•  It        -t         •      :  -   t  t        •     :    - t 

:d«d»i  yn  nly  -isv  ^'^1  -^^l  '1?^?  ^^'J        ^ 
nipip  DSX3  i'tdm  3-]«-'3p  ^^p  'P'^         6 
*:3iD  ni«"i'7  nii^'-^"^        7b 

I  :    •  T  « 

:'7Dij^-''?y  iy^D;  -i2;3d  hdn  nl'3«-Dy  ^is^n    9  26 
^n  nn-'s  "itjj    7  7a 

•  IT      ~    .  .  I      V       -  t  I       -  .     -  I  I 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  303 

IV  -:i-  :  "i-i  ITT  TT 

:-idb;d  '^i;  a"'tyn-'3  i^an-o^  '3!st-D:n       12 
'anynn  nl^vrnDi  nlD^nn  'snrim       14 

.  I-  —  I-    ;  :   V   I"  .1- 

:'d;  ^nn-'s  '3Dp  ^in  n^™  D^y^"«^  '^iipj!??       16 
n33nnn  D^rn^  onpnV  laipsrn.       is 

n:  T    8    •  ■  »    *  :  -It:'  -it. 

rj?-;  'V^n-ri;  '3S-!D"«V  '3Dp  nv^^n-^'V  hd?       19 

IT-:  3T         »jivT 

'3l:;-n«  -i'ni7m  'i;2?s  i^m'i6  inpi       21 
r3r«i  '3n-in2;i  nstyyt  isy^  nriy-'i) 


T   :       »  T    T    IV 


:1Di<'^  'mi^n  11^2  lyn        » 

:pi:^"niy'  ni2?-D«i  dsij^d  nil?'  ^istn  3 

I         V  IV  V  -   t  "  '    t  '    5       '  "  ~   • 

:D;;e)s"T!3  onbp'j  ^b•^i^m  '^'^^'n^  4 

]3nnn  np"?i<]  btr^  "int^n  nn^-a«  5 

r-Tjij-T:^  ni3  d^k?i  ^'bv  n^v:  nriy-'?  nij^  -ig^:i  irox  6 

:Dni3«  -ipnb»  131D1  iiB)«i  -ii^  «^yip3  a 


304  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

iD'^D  ^^^':^''  d^Vpt  "^V  ^"i?^'  ■^'^"'"^'  dh'^^'^lJ  io 

:  o'D-'^n  ^ntj  np]  r^\^n  «^3  i^nrn^rn  1 1 

:wn':  "i'^n"^D  '3E)^i  ^ldj^^  i^h  I3t<n  i3iy  12 

i3«h  ^:n  nipni  b«  'nDt2)"b»-7  nin"i«-i3  13 

InDna  B;'nD!;  rrn^  I^dd  Dip'  ^m  14 

:n^^l  t^b)  13  p'rn;i  "loy;^  ^^'^i  in^ii  hi)  ]^f]  15 

«:^n  inp3v  ln3r'7i?i  mw''2Eh  «in  nbn  is 

,..  ..  I  :  -    I  T-  -  :  V  T        "  :    •  t 

nrh'  D'3n^^  n'3  03D'  vm^  Wbv  17 

TT  -T-:  ~  T-.     :  TTIT  -  - 

IT   :  •  ••    -  T   T  I"  :    -  :  !  r 

:D'i;-iD~T'n  pnn'  b^*Vi  DrrD^D'  ^'^  bi<']n  20 

:n2;nn  "^'nsti^i  "^'s  pInK?  n^)?;"ir  21 

ib^'uv  12)13«  pi^»"nQi  ID"'?  'n:^!'^  d3d^  2 

^bm  vbi<  nK;pn"'?  nij  rP^l  ^?V  Qdh  4 

1B«3  DDsn  -im  =iyT  t^'^i  Dnn  p'n:i;Dn  5 

]i:f'?Bn:  nn'i'^^l  HDlpsp  n^  rnpn  e 

1:-  -T  -:  t:-  :  vr-  -  rr 

:d;  'nD2-^s7  -^-ini  iin^  Dipg;  nDi  8 

:]m  nini  hdoi  ^'P3  k)^  ntt?y  9 

nspp  ]'«"-T!;  nib^b'£)3i  -ipn  i^t^-ny  nl^ia  ng?y  10 

:1^  r3^^■«■^^  ^b^'^  n«-i«  «^i  ^^y  lui;'  in  11 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  305 

:TWvn-7]D  vbt<  im'-'D  9  12b 

rnni  n.Ty  inn?)  innn  isy;  2'\pi-i^h  cilV«  13 

lan^hpp  '3i73ty!  '3  'nn  2pr\  '^^n'r^^b  is 

nn'vv  'P  D3K)pV-D«T  mn  }^'p^!^  nbyD«  19 

:n^DP  t<in  vp^]  on  '^)^p^t  ]3-^i;  «'n  n^^^  22 

ni;^'  Q'pi  nDD^^  n^ns  n^p;  DI12;  d«  23 

7\rb2^]  '3?  n3Ti;«  'n^a?  nn3??«  n»^-D«  27 

:'3ip;n  t^V'D  ^nvT  'ri^?r^?  '^1^:  28 

:yr«  ^3ri  nrnD^  y2)-]«  'd:^  29 

rniD^tj?  '3ni7m  '^^nian  nnra  t«  31 

tDStDpS  n,n:  «U3  13317«  '31D3  ty'^  «''?-''3  32 

imp'bv  n;  nt£)'^  nolD  u'r^'^^;.  ^^^  33 

ranrgn-'^^  inDi^i  lD3ty  '^ro  -ip;  34 

'n^ti? '^y  nnT^« 'TO '?^?5  HDRj  10 

,.    .  -  -    :  T  : 


306  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

IV     :•  n  i;  '.         '  f  tt---i 

:"in3  'DO  "?j'ni3irrD«  td'  cn3«  'Don        5 

TIT"'        It:  •        Itt  vt-;-: 

V22'm  "isi;-^«i  '^n^ti^i;  -iDnD"o  widt        9 

•r-'l  TT  v:'T'—  t        -        r  t  t: 

:'3K'spn  nrnaDT  '^ynn  n^nD  «^n       io 
rnn  niDK)  '^nipsi  hdi?  n^tyy  iDm  D'»n       12 

r  T:rT        Irrrl^:  't-t-t  ttt  •- 

nDv  Di^r^  'ni;T  •^innbn  n^sr  n^«i       13 

Irr-  •  •;-tIttz-t:-t  t-j 

.     P3p:n  «"^  '^I^Di  '3n-i»K)i  TiXDn-DN       14 

•  I  r—  :  •     -:  I"  •  r     :  -  :  •         t    r 

'B^«"i  ^ti?^-^^'^  'np-T:^i  '^  'bbi<  'r)i;K)TD«       15 

.  TT  •         •It-T:        ;         ;«Z         •     :  -      T 

:';3V  nni  lib*!:)  y^te; 

I'D  «^snn  3B;m  'Jiii^n  b»nts^3  n«n  is 

:'DV  «3^l  nIs'Vn  n^V  "^j^V?  ^l^i  naj  '^nv  wim  17 

••3«"jn  «"^  yv]  yi3t<  «b»]  '^n^^fi  Dnno  na^i  18 

:^3i«  "inp'?  1D3D  n'7]i<  ^n^n-K"^  -ic)«5  19 

rr  tIt-Ivv-  t:it        :*t  i  v-.  i- 

DVD  nr^n^i  '3DD  n^B)  ^n^n  'D'  t3i7D-«"^n       20 

rr:  t;:-:-t'  •  '  t    r        -t  -:  i-: 

:mDb»:^  '^s^Idd  ysrn  oniD  «"^i  innsr  p«       22 

TIT12          *'              •           Z       '             •    r  :               :    '        tt"Ivt 
I-        •    t  -:i--  2  ' 

:pir  D'DSte^  B)'«  D«i  my'  «V  Dnn*!  nln        2 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  307 

•^Di?  vnsti^  nns'i  nsi  ni^«  ]r\'-'D  ahM<]  5 

I  IT     •  T     T    S  ~      '    !  '  "       Z       ~  Vt       I    ••    •  •  T  X 

:«:sDn  nir;  n'^Dn-ry-D«  «:sDn  ril^«  ipnn  7 

rr      ;;  tti  T'lvr~  T\-: 

n^r  Dl«  «1§  TVl  ^?V'  ^''^J  ^'^1  ^2 

?l'S3  v^«  nty-isi  '?i3'7  nirDH  nri«-D«  13 

:«7n  i6]  p^o  n^ni  didd  ^'33  iwn  \  m-'^s  15 

:-i3Tn  nni;  d'ds  n3K)n  ^ai;  nn«-'3  16 

IJ*  JIT  ■;*  TI'  TT  T-  r 

:n'nn  -ipsD  nsvn  n^n  Dip:  an.n^pi  17 

:33i2?n  non^  nnsm  mpn  \^r3  rin^gi  is 

ITt        •  m    ^     ^        T!"ITI  III"  •"  .         TJ^T 

:t^srn|D  Dnipni  dt]-ip  -t5«  Di^i?^  nr^Jip  D^rg)-]  'ri;i  20 

-      I-  t    '  z~z 

'3«-D3  TWi''  DDni;i3  DDlos  pn^  '^-aa  3a  13  2 

•  T         -;i-T         t::-:  v  '•  t~        I 

tD'on  pn:^  pinly  ^narn  n1^«^  «"ip  n^n:  nn!;i^  pn^  4 

:%-i  nyio'?  ilD3  I3«iy  n^mvb  na  I's^  5 


308  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

%  TH'?'?  ri"inD3i  nnj^^  I  °' ^^7^  "^'^P'         6 
:n'^n  nl^b?  ^i^3^  -!?;«'? 
HDD^  n^Dsty-'is  yiyn  t3  n^n]  ipx    9  24 

r-:T      t:i        ••  :     ^  r      t         -:  t:-        I       ict 

:D»n  'n  ^b  nsp^i  Tj-ihi  n«  'bm  1«        8 

I         T  :    IT        T      :        -       •_  V   "  T    :     '^     -T         i 

:ti?>fc^-ityn-^3  nm  Ti-hD  wb:  in^a  -im       10 

!•  -!  T-  :T  t  vv  t:  V-: 

:mnn  d''D'  "nnt^i  no^n  d'b)'k)'3       12 

rr  :  -tIv:  tzt  ••r 

tmuni  nn^y  ib^  mn^^  hddh  idi;       13 

IT  :  T   ••  T         :  TIT 

:nnB'  vh]  w'tr^v  liiip:  nn]  i6]  D^-^rji  jn       14 
:n^<  ^^snn  Dn^i2)'i  W2'^  D^sn  "lii^y^  in       15 

I      V  IT  J    ."•"'  ••    :  -      .  T  r:         *  "   ~  :  -    I  - 

inwm  m  1^  n't^^m  ry  isy       is 

rr:      -  ••  t-         i   s       '^ 

I"  :  •     :       I   :  t  •   -:     i       i     • 

ron'jnDn  im  "lb^^n  nris  d'P^9  "ipiD       18 

:nV>D'  D'3n'^<^  \>hw  wtid  jh'iD       19 

:np'  D'3pT  Dym  d^^dw'?  nsty  tdd       20 

inigb'^  -iit<^  «2^n  im-^3p  npDv  7\^id       22 
:Dmn  D'i3^  nm  Di^^^^i  ona^  «'2to       23 

~  r--  •        ---  -:-:i-         •        -  •: 

Itit         I  I  ••:--Ittt  --  T  -  ■- 

:n^  ]nm  '3t«  nyou)  ti?  nnt^i  ^D-jn  13 

rrlTT-*:T  Ttrr        •-  t— .    it  It 

:vsn«  ^«-^b<  nDim  -i3"t«  nty-b'N  '3^^  d^^«        3 

I    IT   :    r  ~  »      r.  ~  «  ~     -  -.         --  T        •  -:  T 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  309 

:nDDn^  n^b  'nni  ntynnn  tynnn  ]n:-''9  5 

rn^pn  nnin  l^i  n'pii;  nnin  ^«^ri  7 

:13  i^nnn  tj;l3«3  ^nn3"a«  ddh^  "ipnps  niton  9 

il^b^g^n  D^3£i  "inD3-Di<  DDn^  noi'  riDin  10 

rag^^i;  ^s:  nnsi  ddh^  nrnn  in«"^  ^'^n  11 

:n5  'hv  niiyn  '^^-nniii^j  '3S»  iiynnn  13 

rsjn  D't2^«  'e;s3i  '3ii)n  nm  mn  14 

-r  TT  T         -t:        I-  ~--:  •":l:-i- 

itI"t         tt:  ;  t  r 

:dd^3t«3  'njn^i  ^nfe  i^Idk)  i^dk;  17 

:p^^«  '3t<  '3  TiyT  DSTO  "TiDiy  «rnan  is 

I      it  :    V        •  -:        •         "    *     "5  T  :      •         •    :     -  t  t 

:y^J^^^  ii?nn«  nny-'S  n?y  ^'i;  ^^in'^P  19 

:'n'2?nj.  '^3l^J-i«  n3r«  03«i  «-jpi  22 

:'3i7Tn  'n^^£3m  'v^b  ni^iam  nlili;  '^  hdd  23 

•  l~-i  •  T-:         '   •      '  J""* 

:niy3  nlaii;  '^K^ninT  ninhD  '^y  niiDn  '3  26 

'nrnt<-^3  -ilDK?m  '^n  no?  Dtt?ni  27 


310  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

'jrri^nm  n'Pi  -i^p  nm  n^b]  ui^      i4 

i-^Di?  DSB?p3  t^^nn  1nt<]  '^i^ri;  nnpB  nr^ypji^        3 
:int<  N"^  «ot3n  ilnD  in^-'O         4 

rr   T  -    T    •  T      I  -  :         • 

1—1-  :t*t        it-..         It-  ttt:  -:•  tt 

I  -t:  r      :  •  -  t:v:  tti-  -: 

I   :  •  t  t    t  IV  :  T       I      T  T    T      I    I  •  :  - 

:yDnD3  "1^:^^  7]\pv]  nns:  d^o  nn_o         9 
:v«i  Dn«  yin  ly^nn  mD^  "inai       10 

I  -  :  T  T     '^  -:  •-  T   v:r.—  r  t  v : 

2)5;!  3in;.  "inji  d;-^3P  D^pnb»r«       11 
i:^'p''  i<b  o'Dt  'rh:mv  np'  «"^i  23w  w'i<)       12 

I  .  T  t  ,"  '  •     :     •  -  '     T  :  -  T  •    : 

r    T      I-   -:  -  -  -  -:         t    T    :         -  :  T 

•^js^  3ittrii;  'n;^9^  '?;is?^  b)i^W2  \]n]  'p       13 
•.'nDini  pn  'V  n'B)n 
:p]t??n  "^jn;  ripv^^h  Tijijij  oitji  «"]pri        15 

PT-  -  :•  1  :•  -t:  t^p 

rjiy-^y  ^scpni  '^ps  nn:^2  ann  17 

ippop  pni;;.  m:^]  ^s'  ^isj  "in  nbm  is 

n^  "isy  nn'£)D"Pibii;n  d:p  ipn?)  1  d'33«  19 

:nin«n  wm  m.pni 

nnn^K^m  vas  r]WD  '^bfr^'^  n)^h  inspnn  20 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  311 

:iD^  y^i'ifh]  nrnfn  yT  «^i  vn  nn?!  21 

:^n«n  v^y  wsy)  3«d'  v^v  'i"i?^^"1^  22 

:'^m'^  '3D'nn  t£)^^«  lyn      is 

:l3cp2  DHfj  t^^Dn  gn-nyi  n3i?;L  Djnn  2 

:^t^"''3sV  nriT  -i^jni  n«T  nsn  r\m'^^  4 

iD'Dni;  112)^  "innni  ^'b  ?i3li7  p]^^;  's  5 

r-^gn:!?;:  ^'riSB?i  '3«-«"^i  "^I'S  "^if'j?"]!  6 

:n^^in  nlyn?  '5?^i  n^jn  ui^  pti^^^in  7 

:nDjn  ^'^«  yi^ni  yDC^n  nl^«  ilDnn  s 

r-^DV  D«^  -in-Ti  ^«  niDimn  ^dd  t^ivm  11 

^I'ri;  ]=iDnrnDi  '^^b  ^njP'-nD  12 

:d'^P  -Tsp  ri«2?ni  ^nn  ^^-'i'^  n'tyn-'"?  13 

:vp;i;3  ^Dfi^'V  d^dk)!  i'P«;l  ^^  i?^"iR?  I^^  is 

^•^sp^|;^  'n'lri'nn  'V"yP?^  "^IH^  17 

IT  -:  I"  -:   •  :  ""  t     .  •       • 

:ann-'^«  «in  ]^s^i  1^"'?/?  i  niD;  I'P^i^'^"^  22&3oa 


1 


312  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:t«^  ll^r?  i^X  -^'^  QC'VV  ^^^^  ly:       23 
nnan'  '■^2;■^^^^  n'  ^«■b»^^  nurD       25 

IT-!*  --  t:  T  "  T  TTr 

IT-   IT  ••  -  •    -:   I-  T  -     :  T    ••       I  T 

V   IT         ••   -:  T       •  -  —  :    V    :  t  t  t    •  i- 

iD^  n^'-t^"^  D'nn  nnnj:i  nnv  mm       28 

T  :r-  -T  t:-  'tI:'- 

t:tIvtt  V-  1:  -  It  i:         -     i  r  i 

nns  nn3  ni;Dn  ngnb'K)  K)ii:n  inp^v       3ob-c 

TIT-:    I-  T    •    :  T    •  :  T  • 

I'inK:  DM?  ^hpi]  iitpn  ]£)a3  Dbn:       as 

-    I  ••  t:  IT  T    :    IT  ••  :  :  -       I  -  t  -  -:         r 

inDlD  b-'DD  D3D31  ]1«  T^'l  ^017  niH  35 

rr:-  ;t  t:-Itt  t:  tt  t 

HQ^^h  ni'^  ]i7n       16 

:n3i7n  '3  ?i:fnDrnD  i«  nn-nni^  f  p  j'^n         3     / 
:D3n  DD3  «:^QN■^^■^^  innm  um  03^73  D^^^^  17  10  (^«/ 1 

ITT  r    r  t:v  i:  -t:  ;T  ~    '    \  ''':'• 

'B)S3nnn  D3K?D3  2;n^nn3i«D33  0ix|Da  le   4 
'tj^N^i  1Q3  D3'^y  nv'a«]  d'Vp?  d?'^?  nT3n« 

:i'^n'  '3D-nD  ^hlni^^  '3N3  t^n'  ^<■^  ^-l3l^<■D«  nni;"n«        6 

|,-;p...  _  ,.._.         ...    :         l-Ti"  t:--:  •  t-        I- 

'^y^p]  nl^x  'D'3  Dni^-'rino  'm]''D  392 
'bnt^  'bv  ni^t^  -^103  'snn  'D'3  'n^n  -i2;«3        4 

rTsiT        --;-  Ti        I  :  -it         -•  ••T  v    -z  - 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  313 

rr  T  :        -  •     :  •  t    •  —  ^     t 

]^^''f7B  nBv  p^:^]  -n:^i  nm'3,  o^^n  fn-i:?        6 
:d^9;  nn-]tii  ^InD]  yij^  '3p-Di;  -id«i       is 

•T       il'T  :rr  vIt--:  --  :         ~s 

HDi;  IDD  D^2)'iyn  i«3mi  Dnv3  '31«-1  8 

ITT  It  ••r  t:v:  ;ti-  t 

IV      -t  -tI-:  ••:  :rr  -t 

r    t  -:  :  :  •  :  •    I  :  - :      '^    j   rr 

li:-:       t       •  T-:rr  t-      •       vt:  -t:-  .•: 

-T^-ra2  i^D3  i13k;«i  ij?i<n  2m]  D3-]1  inn«       25 

:Dm« abn^ ip^3 

irhD^  nrh  '^^^^  'n^n  Dn3'33  nnn  30  9 

rr    •     :  v    r         •    v:rr       ''T  tt*:  '"' 

:ph  ^D^?^■^^*'7  '3spT  '3D  ipnn  'inyn       10 
3«!s^  'n^3-Dy  n'wh  'nD^^D~lty«  an^r:^  '^v  ipO^        1 

r  •*!"  •  -T         •s"T  v~;  ••:  —   ti.it 

^bv  in:  V^V  '^'^^  ^?in?  °7S?  I'^V  ''"i?5  ^^  ^0 

:'3t3n'  D's;iy"i  'T-b^n  h''^v  hi<  ht<  '3TaD'        11 

nn^tb  '350  jDni  '33i;;i  nns  nn: '?  30  n 

:'3L)ppn  1n"Ti?-^5 '3p2)n '3iji^ri  le   7  saa 

:d^3  ^^i^?  n^n '3's;  t2;i;Dp  HDni  17   7 

:n'n«  D'3sb'  nsrn  d'di;  ^t^D^  '33'!!5m        6 

:npni  o^n'?  djIi^V^  itam  Dn\3p  Vip         lo* 


314  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:mi;^ '3sn 'lynD '3  opn  H'H  ii;^  le  s 

V3c;n  '^y  pin  'antpt^n  i  n:^  i  »^id  ls«  9 

I'^b  VT13  mb'' 

r  T     "  :   • 

V3"i  i''^i7  nb'  :n"iD)D^  i'?  '3D'pn  13 

T      -     '        -     T  T  IT  T     -     :  '    "      '  '  'Z 

:'n-nD  v-i«^  -^bw'  bbu'  i<b^  'nv^s  n^s' 

nn33  'bv  Yll  yiB'^^B-bv  yi^  '^^1?!  ^^ 

nig'?^  'Brsi?  '^i;]  '?n-'3p  n-iDion  ^39  16 

:n3r  'n^sm  '3D3  DDn"«"V  ^y  17 

fT-*T-S  T-:  TT  I 

nnj;n:  ^3n-^i; 'P3i  n«r^r  DnjynDtr);  17  s 

lyj?^  ^'Q'  nni'^nm  l3"ii  pn^  Tn«''i  9 

i;j.K?t5  ^npn  'mp_  30  28b 

rnpyr^  DipD  'n;"^«i  'pi  'pDn"^«  n«  le  is 

rD'aiiDn  nnK?!  '1^  D^o^n-mn  nny-D?  19 

'3'i;  HBhi  r]'ht<'bi^  'rn  ':^'bD  20 

:^7]vnb  Di«  I'm  ni  •?«-Dy  "133^  ^Dv^  21 

r^^^n^  mK)t^"^^'^  m^i  vn«'  "isdd  ni3Kr'3  22 

I  I    n  IV  T  I  -       :  T   vtrf  T    :     •  :  r 

:ypn^ 'T^  «in""'p  i^y '32-iy  «3  nn^ty  17  3 

rnpln  i^h  ]^-bv  b^m  ri3s^  DaV""*?  4 

:n3bDn  V3n  '3^171  D^y-i  ts'  p^n^  5 

T IV    :    ;  T  T        -     -  :  •     ~  •  -    I      r    -    : 

:'^g;n-'3Bp  nnp  -i1«  ^o^ty;  dV/'  n^;^  12 

VI  T-  »  T  -:r--:i-  '^     T  T-        •      •  I  • 

vnnb  'K)"io  ipn3  DDT  nny  'Q'  17  n 

:mB)n  '333bm  '3n'3-in  nn  '3«ts^ri  so  22=0171 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  315 

:«:^D« i^"!?)'^' annj:) pyrtj  17  ib 

t'^i^s^-nDi  v^m^  'n'«^'3  nt^^n  2 

^t^vif^^  >£)a  i«  T^  n'?!^^  'P???  ^^"1^  ^^24 

:'ri:^: 'm|n -^^1 '^'3  ^it^B;  nVp^^  17  13 

rns-i^  'i;inNiT.  ';pi^  nm  uij  ^n^np^  nna?^  i4 

rnnity;  'p  'nniDi  'nipn  is^  n»«i  15 

:ng5  "is^-^^  "ioI'd^  njinn  !?i«B;  '15  is 

nDRn  'mn  11^:1  ii;»i  is 

naij  in^i  ]'nn  d^VpV  ';??p  a^n  im^-ii;  2 

:?]^ry3  ^rptp3  nonaD  iJnmj  vmd  3 

i^vi]  vbv  1-13]  i^nxa  ^m  -)1«  e 

IT-:  "      •   :     2  '  ••-:!-  :  r* 

i^lrjn:  HDnty-^i;]  vbnn  npi2  n^p?  s 

:d'd^  vhv  pmi  ns  apyg  Tn^'  9 

:2'n:  'bv  In-isVoi  l^3n  p«3  jidd  10 

:v^n.V  in:^£)m  nin^n  innra  n^DD  11 

riy^^?  ]1J3  Ti<i  1:x  ^<l^  niifj  12 

rniD  -iiD3  in3  b^^'  iiiy  'n  ^D^<'^  13 

:nln|5  ^bo^  iniv^^i  ini^np  l^n«p  pnr  i4 

innsj  inij-'?^  nnp  n^V'^  ibntja  ]i3B;n  15 


316  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

'Ay^^p  bD'  ^v^P^  ^^?!  ^IS  ^nrip       16 

nn-ir  b^nnpi  "^pn'b^  -ii«p  inDirr,       is 
:v"n:D3  inw  yi^^  lDi;3  iJ3'«'^i  l'?  y:  «"V       19 

it:-  -tI-:  -:  tt  :  !• 

:^S^  yT/^^'^  Dip?  nn  b):j  nmpD  n|fcr"^«       21 

I-      .  I  -  -- 

rb»-n3nri  ^K;3n-^^■V  '3i;d'V?^  °'P¥?  '^P^  ^l        ^ 

i-Ti:l'T         ••  ••T  t:t        I-: 

rT:v         -T  •  :  •:-         "T  t:t 

r  T        It  -  •    :  -  :  t:  iv  :  -T         •       :   T 

r  V  T  -:  -  T-  •      :     •  -    t    -  •  s 

:'rilR.n  TV?  y?!l  l^^l  ^'?P  '^W       ^^ 

V^fTli^b  2'2D  13n»l  Vin3  1«il'  lin'  12a&c 

r   T-.  IT    :  ■     T  -:  —  T  :  t 

Di'«  nin"i5^  'bv  ^b'D'^  imp'  nnns  I'D'-bJi?  30  i2a&c 

IT-  :t-t  t-  It  t:-I-t 

n^'V'  'n\rib       13b 
:i^2^2nn  ^^<K;  nnn  vn«'  nm  psD       14 

it:-:-  t  -    -  TTiiv  ttIvt: 

:t3SK)p  y^]  };im  n}}j^  i^b)  ddu  pr^x  ]n  19   7 

V2  ]3i3nn  N"^!  'nipy  '^jyn  ^<■^^  "^I'^x  yii^Ni  so  20 
*:':Dmn  ?jt  D^yii  'V  ip^^  19^^P  21 
rnyK)'  n-)3y  2vd^  'nni3  nn^  niyn       i5b-c 

PTi\:  Tzrr  t:  'Trt-  t       '         \ 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  317 

rin^K)'  N:"!?  'p_-|j;i  17b 

:nin"'3p  nnn-'o:^!;!  npj  '^s;d  -inty  my  30, 1 7a 

:'3b;  -iiy3  ^D'pDn^^l  'd^v  njxii  nlys  19  20 

'nD^n-lip  30  28a 

:n:vi  r\)nb  i;ii  o'anb  'n^n  m  29 

:Doii  ^lp^  'nji;]  niis  ^n^t^  'nn.  31 

:'3Dp  nr'?|^it  'i;t]  ^pnnn  '^i;a  ^nt^  19  13 

rainDty  'i;TDi  'nnp  i^in  14 

:Dn'373  'n"n  ^d^  "'nmn  ij^  ^nnatit]  ^n'5  nj  15 

:'3Dn  'n^  'n-im  'nty«^  mr  'nn  17 

P-.        "»•  ;~J        ;:•!  TT 

I  ::»•:-   T         rtt         •  "    j  t        •         -:  r 

:'3  ni;:]  ^1^^<■T  '3  'i;-i  Dn^^  '33n  ']3n  21 

r  T   :  IT      -  VI  -  •  T      -  V     -  •  •    T  ■  \  T 

nystyn  «"^  na^sDi  ^^^■^D^  '33-nn  hd^  22 

»-    IT  :      •  •  T     :    •  ~  :••.::•  t   t 

1pm  -ISD3  ]r)]->D '%  im;i3n  is^t  jn^-'p  23 

:in^n:  -112^3  ivb  nnsyi  bna  Drn  24 

:Dip;  -is^-^^  innj:^]  'n  '^^^i^  'n^T  'jni  25 

:ni'?«  njn«  'lp:2D^  n^hspa  niy  -in«i  26 

i«-]  ''TV]  '^"nim  '3^^  "ik;ni  27 

I  r  ~    :         -      :    •  t  t  : 

«ur)  D''?];?"^^  HDn-'s  nnn  nlaiy-'asp  1  mb  ma  29 


318  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

I-        -T-.r--  -  I 

I'^^l^l  m^D  nni  '^WP]  'QVp  ]D  ^6  2a,3b 

:'3  '2;in  -ini;3^  v^m  'r\D\>3  -idid        3a,2b 

I-        •  -:  I-       '^    T  ;     r  •     t    •     : 

:yn  ni;  nin  nnDtyi  nnpD  mni^  D'rg;-i  n^n  o      .  5 
:m  n!?«;  v^t^i  int^'  ni^^V  ''^Vj?        7 

:lDlp9 13-112);  -Tiy  t^'^i  pi'pln  i6]  idstk;  i^y        9 
:i3it<  nn^n  rin  D'^i  ^2^*1'  V33       10 

I  T   !    ^      T  TT:  •       -  -  T  T 

'imh  nnn  n3i'nD'  nn  rsn  ptidd-dk       12 

I  I  --         TV-:-         TT  •:!        •:- 

i^n  iin2  n3y3Dn  n33T:;'  «!7i  n'bu  'plon'       13 

!•        I  :         ttt;-:        TTj~r"  ttt  »~ 

:13"]P3  D'jns  niliQ  ^snj  vyoa  Idh^"       h 

:^N  WT  13D3D  13«pn  y^3  ^'H  15 

I-         V      •  1  5    :     •  T  I  •  :  -   '^    -   t  •  - 

:nys«  ]iK)^  iTO-inn  p3"  D'3nB-2)«h       is 

:n«Dni  t5)ni  nm  ^ra  ni3'?£)3  «t-^n       17 

:d^!;'  t<'^  imian  ^^ns  y'^n'  k"^  ly3'  n'l^D       is 

i-:i-  Ti:  -    t     ^   T    :  •  ^  r:  •- 

nmn'  «^i  ^t3  n^a  wbi  nw  rs^i  'd       19 

p.  ,   .  :         -T         •  -  ■     "        -  T      I     -     •        r 

:lniD  ^'n;"«^  13-^1;  ••■I3tp33  nvn\p  yT'^'b^  r?       2oa,2ib 
n3«3n  bDv  T-^3 1'?  "ir  ipsty  m«"'7D3       22 

■V         :  T    T  -  T  T  -       I       :   •  :     • 

iS«  ]nn  l3-nW;  13D3  «^P^  inin:   :23,25b/3&2722 

:^bn'  i^"^i  D'DK  v^y  "iDD'i 

:-  >  •    -  TT  -»~i 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  319 

:ngira  n^fj  ^ns^nn  ^n?  pp^rp  m_n'  «V  20  24&3722b 

iT^nnn-jiDD  pnni  ni3p  nbg)  «^n  so  25 

n^Dn^  ]1DD  12)n-^3  26,20b,2^a 

:bi<  n«  Dvn  n:^:b  nn33  in^n  niiio'  nr'  23 

:ib^  nDDlpnp  yn^]  l^li;  d^db;  i^r  27 

roDnoimn  n^^rnni  ^n^p  v'iDp  lyotj)  2 

nrv^n  «!?  nni  -in«i  -izi-thi  'pjN!i  'jiw  3 

IT-  :ts         r''        -jt:*:        -i-t  •: 

jrr  :iT        -Is   it  :r  -t:-  - 

IT     ••    I"    J  r       ••   IT  v:  IV  :  T     •       I  T  T      :  - 

lan^bv  ni^t<  Dnli?■^^■h  nriBD  dI^k)  dhtib  9 

r      -  -:      -  vt  r  ~  :  -    t    •  t  v      ••  rr 

:b52)n  t<'^]  innj  tj^sn  '^vj:  ^^■^]  "i?;?  nia)  10 

rinpT  Dnn'?:i  an^^'ji;  l^^i:^D  ^rhp]  11 

:33iy  ^Ip'?  ^nQK^n  -li^pi  ^na  i«ty:  12 

nnn'  %'«t^  ynni  dh'D'  nitsn  =i^d'  13 

^n:ivr3  )2h  npbvB':^[D^  33  17b  31  15 

niD  Dn'nn  «^q  «im  aniD  dtd  iS  in  i6a,33i8a 

»-rr--                  ST                   tt:                  I-  ' 

P3D  npnn  wv^'i  n^r  21  leb 

*-  -T  t:It:;;  ;»'        r  »a 


320  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

■ -n^a  nnpbn  '^^pri  1s«3  p^u]  w^nn  34  i8b 
:nsiD  inaja  Y'D3^  nn  '2Bb  ]2m  rn;  21  is 
:yTi  v^t^  D^K)'  I3lb^  V22b  is:^'  ^^^^^       19 

nn^s^n  viy-in  -isdddi  ^n^^^  lirn^  1:^sn-no-'3       21 

tT\  ttt:  -:•  T-:i-  ~:  it 

:DiDt2)^  u'Dn  ^im  ni;"^  id^'  "^^^n       22 
:vb^^  mh^  #3  Idd  D^^rn  mo'  nr       23 

r-  T    :     I  -  -:   :  -  \  •-  v    v    :  t        v 

:n3lD3  ^D«-t<'^i  mD  i^sn  mD'  nn       25 

IT  -  -T  1:  TT  vv:  Tv; 

lan'bi)  noDn  nam  U3iy'  "isi;"^y  "rn^       26 

,....-:  r    -    :  T     ;  :  r  :  t    t  -  -  - 

n33n  «'V  Dnhl^i  •1^1  nniy  an^^B)  «b>n       29 

1"  -  I  T        I  :       I   V   T        -  :     ^  r    :    T  : 

tD^D-'^S-^y  l^irr^f)   34  18a 

Dip'^  Inbn  vd;  "I'3«  ^1^)91       22a 
tvD-iT^i;  nln'  ^m  ]i;K;n  hdd^  1^-]n'       23 

tt:  -         Ti~-jl"T':  -TT  Ir- 

1  v-:>  TT  1:  :-TT  -  ■"'■ 

*:ilK)Q'  Di«-^3  inn«i  '^nr  nnnp^  «im      32a,33b 

•  :;  TT  T  T-:i-:  T  tI:*  :  ' 

nipir;:  K^nj-^i;!  b»ra  '53-3 1^  ^pm       33a,32b 

-  IT  ~  :    •  r      "    I  :  v    t        •  -:i-  i        •     ~  » 

nDbnn  '^i;  dIdtd^  DD^nnmo  'r)i;T  in       27 

IS-.        -   T  •   :  r      ••  :      :    Z        •    :     -T    '  ~ 

ITT  T  I  t:i:  ;;  ::•  '  ~"!T  ." 

:iyni  ibn  nns;  =)rty'  nl^^na  nan        2 

^        :  .„  ..."  ;    -  :  T    ~ 

T  T    I    ;  S     J  -  T  1  •  •  :  -« 

-|gDp]'fc«VJ9Vl  33c* 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  321 

n^3n!  '3V  ^Vl  °"^^'  "^^P  "^^W-         ^ 

T  t:  n    :  :  it  t      j   •    -     '  •      t  :      •  ~ 

innmb  nrh  (^b=)  "h  nn-iy  n-ito^  nnigp 

ft:-  rr  tt-:Ivv-  "-:i-: 

:i%^'  y?^l  ai?l  'J'Ti^sp'  "h'hn  'nim         e 

rnnjpii  niD3  i^t^ii  mnb  'V?P  ^^'V;  Di"iV        ^ 

:-n2snp3n  hdhd  '^3di  udt  nnn  an-Tp        s 

V  f  :  IT  •    -     :  :         •    :  :    ;  t 

*:i«D^n.  iD-i-j  D^nR]  iTH^f!  □ri'ni5J)-i'5       11 

IT  •    ;    •  S    IT  I 

IT-    I  -  -  s       »  «  r  ~ 

rniD^!!^  nln'73  n^s'-'S  did^:^  1d^  np3       17 

•  IT   :    -  s    -  *  "       ■'  V  T    :    -  T  I V 

vwn  D'^^n  B?£)3i  =ip«r  1  wm  t^d       12 

rr   I    •  •    T  ;  vjw 

iidVji  ]Dp?i  "ipn?  3 

:33a3  io'Vy  iynnw"i5;  Dn'nap  5 

iwsD]  isi)  n.in  jiD^V  d^'?™  fnyn  6 

nnsD:  '7nri  nrin  piir  D'n'tr]'?  7 

]:V'rJi^n"«V''^^^1^»^'^19^'^^^rvi    24  15* 


322  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

nD«h  '^Dnn  rs'^^  ]i;'i      3» 

I'^'D'T]  Dnn-'?  y¥?'Di<l  Pl?n  '3  'i?^^  r?Uui  3 

:£0gK)p3  "^iDv  «i3;  "^inj;  ^n«")'pn  4 

rr  V-  -T  :Ittt  ~  s  • 

:«z>in  D^ph;  niy'in  dr'i  nn^K)  nl3D'?«  9 

:Di;^ns  ins  '^^nyi  ens  ^^nnuD  is-^^  10 

riDT'D  DUDiD  Win  ni<i^  wm  n33  rilb»tj-i<'^n  12 

:i^)Bp]  bsiv  ivnri  b^  yT/np  rinp«]  i3 

I  IT   -    :   •  :  -  T  :  r      :  •  :  t  i-  •    T 

m-'nD  iD-n  'im  I'iDm  D'7iy  mb^n  15 

IviT";  :iTT-:  :•  t'^  -; 

:np;  n.ra  f ny  n^njl  %d  yg^-j  d"t«  p^n  inr  37  13 

T   IT       ^    i   ;     •  T    T   VI  rr  :  v  T  :  T  T  s 

injonn  «^  D^)i?^^i51  ^"i?p!  0192  vnnp  15 

i^u^p  10:  "loriDi  pjD?  nsys  "i3?!-D«  16 

:p^n:  'P3  n??!  ^i^^f*!  P'1^1 1'?:  i7 

narjsti  nps  vyv  pip^'  «'^]  35?^!  t?^V  ^^ 

:n£)iD  inn32  n*?'^  nin^a  d:p5  inrto  20 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  323 

tiopDD  ^n-ivm  -ri^i)  Dnf)  ^n^f]  21 

rlD'pDp  vbv  p'lp]]  iD^sD  iD^^y  pb^p]  23 

:lD^"3i7b^:  ^p3]  ^nDm  D'pn:^  i«-)'  2219 

ri^bi;  n^D«  Dnn^i  irop  nrjDJ  t<'^-D«  20 

inniD  ^it^inn  ann  ob'tyi  Id^  ^Ht'P^?  21 

:'?l3n^3  vnQ^J  wp]  nnin  vsp  «rnp  22 

?l|nNio  n^iy  p'nnri  y^sn  nK;--ii;  niiyri-at^  23 

-i'si«  D^b'm  -ii2^ni  -i^n  -isp-^r-n'K;!  24 

•^^■nisvl^  1C)D1  •?|n.:^3  n.K?  n^ni  25 

:'?I^3s  ^i^^5-^^t  mn]  y^nn  np-^v  r^t-'^s  26 

laWn  •^n.-T?i  ;^V9?^!1  ^'^'^  '^'nm  27 

nl«  HM  ?jonn-^^i  -q^  Dpn  iQ^-inni  28 

:i;,K;r  d'tv  np]  •  -  ■  29 

:vs3  -123  iJ?Dy\  'P3  b?'«  d^d^  30 

*'t^£)3  -ipn  n?)]  'i^BpD  Tpn  l^N-'n  2 

's«3  rfib^  nni  'n  'noi^i  "Tiy'?D-'3  3 

:nj»-]  nan^-Di^  ':iK?^i  n^ii;  'nsp  m-)3in-D«  4 

DDn«  pn?N-D«  '^  n^'^n  5 

'Djp  '53^  ^"1^;L■^<■^  ns-]t<  t^"^]  'npinn  'npi:^3  e 


324  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:D'»nDD  n\2)  n^mi  hvDD  n1^«  pbri i nni  si  2 

ITT  TT  T         r  "T'"  IT-:^— . 

rny-b'D?  cri^^J  «1R'  33^^!  'ir^r-ob^       10 
n^snn  ^nn  nrnD^?!  orrrn  dd^^d  am  in       12 

rr:r  rr  r  tit:  r-— .  ••-.  •_' 

IT  :         -i-T  :-        •:-         T.rr  ..i- 

:v^■no^^  'r\:B:c  'pnn  k)'d«  «"Vi  vnsts'  m.^pp       12 

»P  -..  -i-tI'":  'T  :  t.. 

tn'jins-^i?  l^inn^t  HDrr^V  ^nns  nnn  31   1 

Vl^BpD  Pl'KI  ^'VP3  '??^?<"1  '^P^^  PI?  ^^  14 

r;tj:  riDS^  D^Vp.]  "i3V^  '^^"n  D^ry        15 

:nnD  T^ti;«  vwD^  ^iy  nly^no  n-ati)«i       17 

Ivrr        '*s~  T'"  T~  '^:-:  t:-.it 

n3m«  'p«  ]D3pi  n«D  ';^ia  njyjp  '5  31  is 

:nnE)«  ni;«b'  'n^i  na  vb\'i^^  r^n?       32 

rinx  naD'?^  n^i  ^^3n  'b'l;  -t3«  ddi^  29  13 

I  r    :  -         T  T    :    -  -  :  t        ;   t  ••  • 

'hnr}D^D-^:j  mn]i<]f'nv  'nD^n'u^  31  5 
'>^b  '^bn  ^ry  nn«i  Tiin  '3p  nt^^  n^n"D«        7 

Di«p  pan  '|Dni 

IT      :        -    T   v»  r.-  :  ~  ~    Z  '•  . 

•:iTT         ;-  -r  ;J         t*  -        ;*  t:- 

:Dn^n«  jiy"]?!  n'/'Vl  '^?^^  "''^^^  1^?^       ^° 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  325 

]V3:i]  ri'o^n  ini]  prrn  'mi^  '^v'm  38 

nB;«3  myty  nnm  nin  t^ns'  1  n^n  nnn  40 

:mm  ^n^^^n-^^^  12b 

~       :  T  T  :  T  I 

HDV  D5I?  '^9^i^l  '1^^  ^^P^  D«D^^-D«  13 

"rn«  anna  133d;i  ^n'g^y  '^k^J;  ]D3n-t<*^n  15 

map  Din;  ^5«"«V3  nn^  'ris  ^75^1  17 

l1;3^i^  'k;£)5  hdji;  Dl'-nK?!:)^  'non  «^-d«  30  25 

ll;n«^  mo?  y^]  u?nV  '^?p  "T?lt<  n«n^  d«  3 1 19 

nmn]  'to?  rapi  i^^n  '^ann  ni^d^  20 

'rillV  "i^^5  n«nb|t- '3  n;  Din'/bi;  'nlE)'3n-D«  21 

nnB?n  h^dd  'y'nr^i  ^isn  hddk'd  'sns  22 

'nD3p  'nnp^  ons^i  '^D3  nnj  'nDty-D«  24 

n'  n«:^D  -i'sd-oi  ''^'n  m  's  nDty«-D«  25 

l^n  -ifj'^  riTi  ^ri'^  ••3  -il«  n«-j«  d«  26 

's^  n]  pm]  '3^  -iriD3  nsn  27 

j;n  lb^^p"'3  'ri")iynni  'ijipD  tss  np^«"D«  29 

1K?£)3  ^^^^3  ^^k;'?  'sn  «bn^  'nn3  «"^i  30 

yaty^  i<h  ntoD  jd^-'d  '^n«  tid  nD«"D«  31 

^it:»  t:'I t:it        ~i  :rr 

'3li7  '3n3  ]1DD^  'i?K;s  D'^^^3  'n'D3-D«  33 

'^no;  nlnBB;p-rni  nan  lion  1  i^nr«  '|  34 
:nns  «]^«-«"^  o'l^i 

-  rr  -   ••  «iT 

im^m  riD  -ibs'-'Di  bi<  n^p'''^  jiwv^  nm  14 


326  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:^Di«  ^^'^  'immi  'b^  nmi  b^  ins  '3       23 

iniDD-ni;  ^^13X  1^^^:^Q«^  'ni;T  in'-'D  233 

iTi:           -                  T             "t;v:        -t-Tl-;       r 
ITI             ---:         ;                t:-  tt:  Tirnr 

r  -  -  t-t:       :i-  :;  T:r- 

I-       -T  I-       \       ■  t  :  "f  z  '■•; 

:>DSi2;o  rx^^h  hd^s^i  Idi;  nDi3  hk)'  db>        7 

■t:*  -vt  T:--:r-  •  T  tt         t 

:^^2^^^  nno  '33n2  noyi  'D"n  yT-'^s       10 

,..  „  TT-        --t:  •:t:        •      :    -    ^     -t       r 

nlSD^  ''iy:^-^Di  o"ii  n«"i'  «in-«'Vn  314 

II-         -t:  t:tt:  r     i  •  —. 

'3n  ir)'«  nriD  nspi 
p />  nntpy  131]^^  ^W^  'ODB)  b»i;  K^d^       36 
n3n-ip«  1^33 103  ^3T3^^  nyi:  -isd;3       37 

iv:Iit— .  -T  X  "*7.         -t:  -:• 

^i<»  'pi:^  rnD^<  dsij;d^  nnij^n  n«^n  35   2 

r--       ••:-t:-t  t:-:t:-t  -j 

r         t    -  I-  '^  IT        •      I  t    :  •  -  -  r 

I  v-:r-  -Itt:  -:  t:-  -ttt 

:np;  "^ll^P'nD  1«  l^inrrnD  npi:^-D«        7 

r^irD  'iK^b'i  i7'K)"]D  b'ijii^  n^Vn  34  10b 
:i3N^q:  K)'i:^  n"i>3^  1^"d^k?;  D"t«  '^ys  o       11 
:i3se?o  mi7'-«^  ntyi  D3n  y^K^-i'-t^"^  ^«  D3D«-n«       12 

rr:'  "T^  '  --:         t---:-  -  t:t        I- 

n3-"ii!;«-^3i  n2^"it<  r\b^  ^nn  Dts^n       13b 

T  V-:  t:  t:-  t    \  -    ~  r- 

D'nn3"b»«  ytyn  '^yVs  ■n'7Db>  "iDb<n       is 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  327 

*b'T':sfp  V^\D'13}  i<b]  nn^  '3S  |«'OT«*^  -|B^i$  19a-b 

:nv  'p^D  ^in  nij}  ^^od  30 

**nb«'  v^«  inDB^3i  inn  v^«  n^w'  vsn'-D«  14 

lyT  ^^'^  Dn^33  Tism  25ba  24a 

T2  i<h  Dn'3«  -I'D'I  20c 

IT  :  '      '    Z  '  '• 

rarinri  Dn™-FDy»i  24b 

:n3i;'i  i«di'  n^'b»  ni:2m  imD'  lyn  2oa,25biS,2ob/3 

-:i-:  T     -•  T  :  T  -:r-  T    '  ^  -    v 

:nnn  no:  '^  DI;  liyr^'^  20ba,25aa,26aa 

x^r^f]  \y')v  nvp]  h^^PM'^  ^'^^  ^T^^  28 

***:d'?i  ^nrp  iyii2);  ip'^p  D^piK);?  3nD  35  9 

:Dnn3i;D  13dd  -iddj  ]'«i  n^iy  'c;y  nx-i'  i<n-''3  34  2i(G),25a^ 

V       ••  IT    :    -  V    ;  T    :  •     I     ••  !  t  :  -       ••   ^  »     : ' 

:1^  ^^inm  v^sh  in  inii2)n  t<"b»  -iD«h-'3  m  35  14 

I  ••  :  T  T    :      I       •  V  :  -  i-        I  - 

:dsk?D3  bb^-bi<  -^bnb  w'^'  w'i^'bv  «V  '3  34  23 

IT  :      •    -  ••  V        I       -:  I-  •    T 

rn^ii;  n^ys  iq«-'di  i^-n  vbv  ips)">D  36  23 

t:-t:-t  -t        r  :-         tt  I-t        r 

it;  Ij  T*-:i-  Tj-T'  -t 

**** 17(G) 

on  D^^D^  bib  ^^-'S  W  yi  36    5a(G) 

:DstyD  pn^D  y"ir  i^"!?!  17(g) 

'iSe  cot  o{)K  oUi  t6v  tiujovvra.  S,voiJ.a  tioX  rdv  oWvvra  roiis  Trcvripois  aiCiPiov 


328  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:t  :t:  v:  t-        -tI--: 

nab'i^:  i<h  np]  ^n  ^VW'^^  ^^^  nyiar-^^  3513  \^t\  3613 

D^n^b?  nvi  i:^sn  ^V's  36  i2b(G) 

*:^b''3m  i<b  vjiT^Di  34  27b 

r  :      •  T     T    :  T  : 

D"ID«  '3  lyiK)'  «'V  3^-^«  =)D'ty'  «'^  nOV'S  ^^^   36  13 

IT  T   — .         •        ^   :  -    :  -  "  ■    T  :  IT-         •         I  - 

iD^tyipn  Dn»m  dk)s3  "ii^ia  nbn  36  14 

r      "I  :  -  T  T  -  :         t     :  -  -      -  T 

:]pi  «^D  ^jn^jy  nna]  n'rinn  pi^iD-^b*  nrn.  "qn^pn  pj^t  i6 

njbn;  libc^di  in  n^'^D  yg;"j  ]ni  17 

:':'^p  nnnii  nf?v  'd  ]in:-^«  jsri-'?^  iDgn  21 

rr-:  :i  v-:  t:it  •  :     -        v  s 

:p1n-iD  D'a'  :^)13^<  imrn  D-Tt^"'?^  25 

:«-ilD  ^nbD  'D  ini)3  n'w  ^N-in  22 

:3"i  Di«  r^y  isi;"!'  a'D-'stoD  yir  'd  27a, 28b 

IT  T  T     '      ••  -:  -:     :•  •  t        ••    :   •    '^     -t: 

n':iDDb  ^Di<']r\'  u'dv  ]^r  d3-'3  31 

ri«  «in  "ID^<■•'  13^7^3  37  6 
V   T  ••  »»  -  '         T   V       - 

rmp  DnTDDT  hdid  «i3n  idti  mno  9 

ItIt  -T    :      •  T  T       I    T        ••  ••     8   ~    " 

:p^iD3  D^D  nn'-ii  nipj-in:  ^ist-nptyap  10 

riMi;  -il«  ^'sini  pn  on^^y  nl^b^-oVtya  yinn  is 

mn^OnDlD-byil^fcJ     34  27a* 

:njly)?Dip^?iyTn:i:)pVnyTV.   36  33- 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  329 

:Dn"=Tp  n«  topt^na  o^m  T-rn  -ie;«  17 

:p;^^D  '«-i3  D'prn  D'priB;^  iDy  P'pnn  is 

:?|3np3  "^i^V  -Tj^mi  -rinn  npnn  16  n|«-^3  ^i^rij  36  28  b(G) 

:;;igp  m3  D'pnB;  nityi  ni<ni  d:dk;  Dan  35  5 

in^-'DDn-b^  =i«n;.  D'tyj^  im«-i;  jd^  37  24 

ivgno^  Di^g;  n^y  iDr  nns]  ^K;Dn  25  2 

nnnl^  D^p;-^^'^  'p-!?^i  vinj^  nsop  tj):n  3 

:rp;i;n  =)3r«^  D^nalDi  b^rii^i  «'!?i  nipi;  ]n        5 

li:^?!?:  ^33  oDHi  D3'^il^  1  t^m  idI-i  34  24 
n!?i5:  n^nK;  tj)fc<hDi 

n«gn  ^it^K?  ^hp-'D'D  ^bu]  Dh-oa  n;^  19 

"ipr-K^  ily  nbn  Ipnp  1  am  ^nmp]  20 

rr  :  -     I     ••    T  "  t     :  ~ 

:-ip«h  nv«  ]^!]  36  1(331) 

:'nm«-'7y  nnna  iT/iDiD  lTp-'3 'n^T  Djo^  33  2 

:Ty;t^"^:yn[nyt2;1nnr)"t<"^^nnTr™  36  2 

rnr-jin  n'-i|  nje^ni  noDn  «^^  ri::^i;;"np  3 

iTjDp  n^m  '^'nDpT]  d'^P  ri-T3n  'P"n«  4 

iDlpDD  nn^i '3^  nnn;,  n^r^^-p]^  37  1 

:«^!  v^p  njn]  i^p  nna  pIdb;  ypty^  2 

P"T3 1^"!?]  ni^n^  ng?y  fc^'aa?  ^«"in  36  26a,  37  5b 


330  THE   BOOK  OF  JOB 

HRn  ^^  Vyp  "ISDP    36  26b 

:D'pn^  "hv  im  ni<h  -idd  pv  27b,28a 

IT-;.  -r       "      :     :     ■      I      •  T        I        I  Z 

:nD^  onnn  'K^^m  n«  vhv  '^^Bnn  30 

rr    •  ;  T  IV       "  T :  "  t    t  -  t      I  i" 

:mDD2  n^^s;  i:^^  "i1«  hdd  wbd  ^v  32 

'T:-:TrT         -:-  t-  •  T.   Z  - 

'Am}  b)p:i  hiii  nvy_  bp-ym:  \vyi^  4a-b.5a 

nniJD  l^ip  y-ot^'-^s  nm  ido  npi;'  ^'^i  4c,6b 

in'^nnnn  isnnp  innpD  «irn  12 

nn«^9:  "FDn^-Db^  E53^yDt<  13 

O'pm^  t^in  H'n?  nii<  ^«"]  b^h  innyi  21-22 

r   -.-.rr  tt  "-:i-:  -I  t-  T:rr-  j 

rii-^n^^  mD3  ]'ni  n33  ^i«iy  any  ^e  e 

:nD'b:rhv  i^n^  n^n  inrr^:;  jis^  hd:  7 

tonnn  ]jy  yp3r^^■^^  vny^  d:d  "iii^  s 

riDpy  vbv  W^B  HDD-'^S  Tnt<D  9 

r-^OToy  ■^^^^  n'V?ri"^y  DiQ-'Js-b'i;  an  pn  10 

:in-)i7ap  inDn:i  issn;  d:»b?  nmv  11 

:Dn'3D'2n  d^d  nnnp  ibh^n]  D'i^^snn  5 

:2n-!  i^no  injnnni  Djn  yn  inba  12 

:n-i3  B)ra  It  n'^Vn  msti;  wn^  innn  13 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  331 

^n3«:^Q-fc^"'?  n\t>  37  23 

1  T      t  I 

r.'—.T-  I T    T  :  I  :  T  :      •  -  •  - 

:1^  I'^fcj-^b'i  "linNi  m'i<]  -^bri^  dij?  ]n  33  a 

y^n:  '3  ly'x  "iD^-Di:^  '^  "initj  "iDb  D«  "ispn  37  20 

:ij?i;»i  nm«  12)331  lan^K)'  ^di  n«T  ^^i;  -in«3  t^im  23  13 

:lDi;  nlm  nan^i  ipn  n^bw'  '3  i4 

'bv  «3  3«Dn  rno  'n^T  i6  '3  b'na^  vjbd  ]D'bv  i5(h-g) 

:i3gp  -ins^i  i^nnx 

r3s  nD3  ^s^Di  "^g^n-'Dsp  'r)p:f3  17 

npr  snr^  Dipoi  «^1d  ^103^  wi  '3  ss   1 

:n^im  pi2^;  in^^i  np;  -iE)rp  ^ns  2 

rniD*?^]  '^s^  ipln  «in  n'V?ri-^3b»i  ^mV  d?^  ai«  Ifp  3 

ny3  2;i3«D  1^1  ^n-'^D  a'n3K)3n  "12  di;  D'^m  vis  4 

r*  :        I  -    :  V     T      V    :    -  :  v    t  -  i~        t  ■?    •      I      v  v  t 

rn^nin'rip  nnr  nnsyi  n^^ns:  Tsp-aipo  6 

ft-l-  -t:  :         -t^t:  I  -T 

:hm  vbv  nnv^b  rntr^n  =im3n-rn-«'^  8 

;iT  tt  tt  iI-t~;  •:•  i 

:Dnn  mm  iqt]  It  nb^  t^'D^na  9 

:lry  ^n^5-l  -ip'-^3i  rps  on^'  nims^a  10 

•     ~  t  -:    IT        J  t  :  T  :     -  I "  •  •       : 

nl«  «^'  nn^ym  K)3n  nnm  '33d  11 


332  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

*:7\y'2  DipD  n|  ^«i  t^^Dn  ]:«d  noDnni  12 

tDVnn  }'^^^?  «¥?fi  «'^t  nD^i  2)i3«  y■^:"^^■V  13 

:n"inD3  D'Dts?n  nlyDi  'n-'^D  t^d  nD^r^i  21 

:nDV  v\A  -iD«  D^  ^'H-'D  i^b  iDi<  Dinn  14 

:ns;oty  13i;dk)  ir^r^a  nD«  niDi  l1l3^<  22 

IT    :   •  :    -  T  " :  T    :  :    it  v  t  t    I  -  -: 

inDipD-rib^  yi;  «^ni  ns-ji  I'nn  D'^■^^5       23 

nr     J ;  !  ~  '     ."  '  -    -  •  -     I       t  t    T  I  :   ■ 

n"jp3  iiin  d:di  b]WD  nn^  nityy?       25 

ni^P  rrn^  •^iii  pn  idd^  inty^n       26 

:n-ipn  d:t  mon  mson  n^n  t«       27 

itIt-:         -:         T'r»  T:-:n         tt       t 

rnrn  yiD  -noi  noDn  ^^'n  nln;  n^y,  ]7\  uijt<b  nm'i       28 

I-  tt:;'-  Trl^f-- 

:'3DD  Di^nD'  ubn  d'Vd  "nt^inn  ^bd  n:^i7  o'bvD  inr  'd        2(g) 

•  r-       ;      •   !        I   :    IT  :      V  :        I     v    t  -:  v  v  :  T         T  vi 

IT     •      T    :     -T  -  ;      I      V  T  •   :  T  :      T    •    T 

:ip  7]'bv  ni:irr^  1i<  y-rn  '3  nnDD  u^-'d        5 

llTTVT  TTr  ^      r  ••  -TV-:  T 

nn3S  ]3K  nn'-'D  1«  lyam  n'n«  nD"'?y        6 

ITT-IVV  TT  r  '^TSTTVT-:  T  ~ 

r'~         TT~  ;:  T         '-t:-         It        ; 

:nTnp  nt?3 '??.?':  ^^"^1  n'^iinn  -n:p  ]n\-vh  is* 

n'spi  "ip,;  onty^  tsi«  dhd?  n^on  t6  16 

:  rs-'V?  nnniorii  rrpDji  3rij  nD-iy;  «^  1 7 

:d7:?P  nopn  •^2;ai  -id;:  «""?  tj?'?)]  nloHT  is 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  333 


D'O^T  nn?  o'mi  pn  vbv  -)a??«}  10 

i-^I'la  li«53  D'pi  i<b^  pj'ph  ^^•^1  «nn  nsi-ii;  -id^i  n 

iDpD  -iriK?  nrii?T  npa  n'l^  ^'9;pn  12 

*n3Dp  D'5?13  ni;r]  }^"iai  nisM  rnvfy  13 

rtj^n!?  1D3  a^^];ini  onln  iD'm  ^srinn  14 

•^.^^nnn  Dinn  npnni  D^-oani?  ri«?n  is 

:n«nn  nio^:^  nytyi  niD-n.^g;  -jf^  ^bm  17 

:n^r)  ri^i;-D5:^  -ran  n^"'5Dl"^4^  n^pnn  is 

iDipD  np«  TiB^ni  "n><"ii)ty:  "^-i^n  np«  19 

:ln'5  nin'nj  ^3h^^:;n  o]  ibnr'^^t  mpn  'd  20 

:d'5i  -^i'?'^  nBDD^  nb]F\  T^^■'^  rii?!;  21 

rngn^pi  nnp  or!?  '•)^'r)vb  'F\Dm-]p^  23 

•Tir'^^  anp  Y^l  D^"i  P^n!  nin  nri<  24 

nl^P  rrnb  -^ni  n^i;n  »^Dt£)^  a^s-'p  25 

ia  D-jij-K^  -12-Tp  ^'ijrt6  y^iA'bv  "i^ppn^  25 

:«n.  i<^b  n'p^n^i  nfcjB;Di  ^^^K;  r'^a^n^  27 

•^;?"'/'^^  "T'^ln-'D  li<  n«  imb't^in  23 

1-[^^!  'P  d^pb;  -ibD=)  nii^n  ^r  'p  ]D3p  29 

n-TD^n^  Dinn  'jsi  ^«iinri:  d:p  ]n«3  30 

:opf  i?  !?'P3  niDB;p-ii<5  ng^p  mnijjp  iB^pnn  31 

:ar\m  n'^a-^i;  t2?:i;i  in^n  nnjp  i<'^:^m  32 

•PJ5  "J"!^?^?  D'^n-Dfcji  n'M  nipn  nyi^^n  33 

:D"ji«D'5DDP5;i^'.j  15a 


334  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

nD3n  "^i^  nD«''i  ^Db'^  a^pna  nbmn       35 
:nr3  'Oti?^  ]nro  1^<  noDn  ninisa  niy-'D       36 

IT      •  •    :   V      -      I   -  T         !•  T     :     T  •.     -  T 

n'3B)'  'D  U'D^  'bny]  riDDnn  u'pm  ibd'-'d       37 

I-:-       •  ■"'''         -:•:  t:t;  i-t:  "  Z  •       '" 

npsT  wnyii  p^iD^  -is^  np?a       38 

viT  ;  '•"  !>**  '^i-  xr 

I    I       .  T  -  ••  ^     -    T  ••-:!-  TV  "       T     :      -T-J 

TIT     t  •  -      T    :     -t:         TV-:  •     t:  :    • 

in^nbm  on^^an  mn^sn  n3i;-iDn        3 
'ADb  u^i^b^  ih:^'  nna  13T  Dn'33  lob'n!        4 

IT  T  :  1  rr         t   -  :  •         •.•••:  j    t  - 

nns  '0  ini;  nnDbi  'ti?sn  «ns  nW-'D        5 

-  r-   •         •  T  :    •  •      :    T  v  v  -  •  r 

IT  ••    :  T         ;  :      •  "  t     t  -:        •     :  -  v    -: 

iV^p]  iih  m:  n)t<pr\  nnp  ]^D7\b  pnp]        1 

I      :  •      I  T  T  Z.    '.'•  ••       !    •  •    T  » 

:'?|nn^  D^p?:;  11?^;"°^  nui?^  ab'nn  "ig^pnn       10 

I  IV     • :  T   ••  -:  I-  :  -       r  7.    '  ' 

•HP^ii  "^n^i  "^vii  ^'^r?  "'^  I'^P^o-^     ^2 

inoi;"]  nt^ij  tJ^'s'^nn  nnna  mh  innn       19 

ing^x  nn:  lin  n3n«5  i^ty'^nnn       20 

:pi2)3  nt^-ip^  ^^:^'  nbn  ti^'tj;^  porn  "isn:       21 

I     V   IT  - 1  :   •  "  "     ~         =  -    T :    I      V    -    T  I  - 

vrr-s-  T         ij         T-  :         ;;«'"« 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  335 

:]noi  n'3n  2r\b  nsm  nnn  vhv  23 

HDn^p  qn'^  pinnpi  n«ri  -ID^<■"'  nstj)  n?  25 
:ni7nm  onty  on 

IT  :  •  T  -    - 

:]^'rfy  is;3  '2)-)s^  YT^Wr-  '^^?'^^'^.  26 

ijp  on;  oi  -iK?3  ri^2r  ^'S"^r-D«  27 

:nl^:^m  }^bD']p-b^  ]:bn:)  ]Dp]  y^D  28 

:itj'3!  vry  pln-jp'?  '^j^  nsn  ora  29 

:«in  Dty  D'V^n  -ib;«51  oyiy  b'i;;  vnis^i  30 

i^^bn  ^ji]  -Tim  r]2y\  ]m  ^rnis;  10 

iDnnn  n^vp^  jirfi  '^2pr\  nnn  ynn  38  i5b,4o  12b 

* noiD  D^ori-^N  8(G) 

nDi<^l  nln;-n«  nl't^  ]vi\  40  3  (4s  d 

t~  -TTlr--:  T         -il-l- 

T  .        I  :    •  ••   T  •  I   :  T  r  •    i     -t 

*/ii)  dTTOTTOtoO  Mou  rd  Kpi/xa. 
oU(.  8k  (le  aXXws  troi  KexPWaTiKkvM  ^  Iva  &va<papjis  dUatm. 


336  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:y-f«  «^i  ^3DD  ni«^s3  rn«  «^i  ni?^  •'^  'man  'd 

n^^<^  -isjy-^i;  ^nomi  d«d«  id-'?!;        6 

rr-:  tt  -         '    i   Z '.  •  tvI-  ^ 

r£)''7«"'?«  nin^  -iD«h  n^«n  Dn3■^^■n^<  nv«  n:n  nnb^  'nn.        7 

-^«  i^dV^  u'h'i<  r^v^P]  nnD'nv2p  DD^nnp;  nnri  :n1'«        8 

'V^<  Dni5i  t^'^  o  n^np  Djpy  nitj?:;  'n^n^  ^^?'i<  vjs'oi^  'd 
-iDi^l  ^mtyn  11^31  '^9'nn  ts^V^?  ^^^'1  -^i'^^  '1?^??  hjIdj        9 
:nv«  ^3D"n^^  nin;  i<m  nin;  D^'^^5  i^i  n2)«3  wv'n  'n^m:^ 

•  ;i""  •ITS  TJI  T!  T5^  t    •  T»  T  T  T 

nin;  «'nn  -i?)«  nynn-^D  bv_  ln«  ^Dm;i  i^  nri  irrnn  an^ 


« 


P'ls  Kin  '3  3i'«TiK  ni3S7o  n^«n  D'E)]«n  nB>"^t!>  inae^M  33  1 
31'«3  D"i  nnst^DD  'nnn  '^^jnn-iD  Nin''?^  i  n^  "inn :  vrya  2 
bv  is«  mn  vyn  nt^^iyni  :D'n"^«o  112)33  lpi2s-^y  ls«  nnn        3 

-  -  T  T  T   "        V         :     •  r        vt  I"  :  -      I       :  -  -  -  t  t 

;     T    :  T    •  •    vsp.'  "         v:  T  v       ^      •       i--        r -:  i-  :    rr  ■  v    -: 

'3  ^in''?^  «-in  iD'D'^  13D0  nDn-D'3pr  '3  onmn  n1»«-n«        5 

I-  -•-  -T-irr         V         :  •:  v-:i-l~ 

:DDn^^  'i;'i  nino  i«-)'«i  'n^nr  ]3'^v 

it:*  -t  •!-:  Tsv  ;t 

iD'^/D  DHD  ip'nrn  "liy  13I7■^^■^  ^nn  15 

nil;  ^:D'iS  noy  '3  nai'  i<b">D  'n^nim  le 

^Vnyw  'nno^i  1?^  10 

:'3«■n^^  'p-i  m^^^  'pbn  '3t<-nN  ^3i;^5  i7(iob) 

•  rr        I  -         .     -        V  -  -:       I  •   :    v        •  -:       I   ~         v  -:  r- 

]3l2n«  nDnv]  Q'^D  inpnri"ii;       12 
:d3d  ^nD^<  miy  nolo  nl't^^  ]'«  nam 

r.-    •  T  T  -:  V    ^      -      .  .     .      I     ~  ••  •   s 

riy'^-fc^"'?  ^3£)n'  ^«  nDDn  13n:^d  nD^n-is       13 

!•  r:»~  t:t  tt  :  ir 

i^n^m  i^h  D3nD«ni  a'%  v^«  -nhr^  '3«       14 
:'3D3  nn  '3np':^n  d'Vd  'n^o  '3       is 


338  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:m2'  D'ly-rn  ni3«D  nnsj'-^"^  ]"3  '3to3  7]in  19 

-li-T*  -T-:  :-"T'  IP'-:        •:• 

tnjy^i  'nB\p  nris«  '^"nnn  nnai^  20 

*'^0  '^W.  ^^?^  -^P^  '^VX  ^^  '^  22 

:^D«  lV  Di;D:  "^ni  innn  d^Vp  ll^^"'?  3 

:y2)g  'V?  '¥n  t2^i3«  no«  'DSiyp-^y  6    ■ 

'^  VDW  DDn  -i3:n  '^  no.s^  22^  'k)3«  td/*  10^,34 

i-~  TT  vv:;  :  T"-:-l"T 

:]]Ni-^B)3i^n  niitj^n-^r  n^py  nv«  ]r\2]  bni^  36 

plsDi  i3'5'3  y2)s)  ln«c3n"^y  ^'p^  '3  37 
:bb6  mm  3T] 

**:nrT«n '-idt'tdt^d  3VJ<  NryDB)  ob'i^i  33  1 

Tr-:i-         -t:  t:t-  •  t'^-:  t  : 

:'Dn2  ':wb  nmi  'd  'nnns?  i^ynn  2 

:"^DV  nlyi  D^pn '%  nR?)"^'^  ^}W?  ^ 

i^bbD  -in?  'fiDty  nyii  n.D^5  '3^  nw]  33  3 

:t^1« 'Di^i  irnm 'Vyi???  3VH  n»pn  33   31- 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  339 

*:nn^!nr;i  'js^  riDiv  ^n'tyn  ^Din"D«        5 

:y5?)«  d^Vp  bp]  'mn  mm  ■?!«  s 

:'b  ]iv  ^^■^^  o:«  ^n  ]^pB  'bn  '3«  xt  9 

:)b  n:i«^  ^ni^n:  «^d:  '^y  ni«i3n  in  10 

:'rin-itj-'73  idk):  'bn  iDa  ol?;'^  11 

:n3i;;L  «'^  innT^D"'^  ninn  r^«  ^hd  13 

:\i>mD  cilb«  n3T"'3  ^j^n:  ripji:^  «-^  n^^nn  12 

•  •  •  TiD  n'35  ^^<^^  36  5 

rngiT  r-7V?"^51  k^'^-'D-it^i;  rj^P"'?  34  21 
I'J'V  P'1¥P  yi^r^'^  36  7 

rnsun^  '3  dh'pk^s^  o'i'rs  on^  -ran        9 

IT  -  :   •        •  •.•••:•  T  t:  IT  v    t         ••-- 

nriW  iS  D'ntyni  ^nhs-t;  nn«n  '5  33  14 
D'K)J^^"^i;  nDi"]ri  bbp  n^;^  ivrn  iDi^na       15,  leb/s 

I3NID  iniK^^'S  -|D«'l  -ID^D^  DjriJ  ^5»l  16,36  10 

:nD!  -153  mjpi  inc^ygp  di«  "Tpn^  33  17 

:b'ii<p:2  ihvD  in'^ni  nriB^-'ap  ws^  ipri:       is 

ni£3|  ari'p;  ^bj]  nni;;!]  =1^92)^°^^  ^6  n 

:7ipi^ 'in^fgrrs  T31 '53T5>n  D'Vo  B>;"DH    33   32* 
:>rnn  'i?>  nop])  'ri^:;^  '^irnn    33    4- 


340  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:ni7"j  '^n3  ^yiri  nn^;:  ^i«2):n  ^VW-  ^^'^^)       12 

int<  vd:^!;  nm  l33K)D-by  3i«jD2  nDin  i«  3319 

:m«n  ^D^^;^  WB:^  on^  irrn  nonn       20 

it-:p-  r"*"  ="•  "''  'I  T-:-: 

ni<"i  t^h  vnb^y  isk)]  '«np  n^3  ^5:       21 
DID  iD^  in»m  i2)s3  nnt^b  3"ipm       22 

* 23(G) 

ibhm  nb  'nm:  nm  ^1^^|:■^^^  '3  34  31 

Ir  •:-'vT  ••"  T--TT 

i-^D'D  'nx:^D  nnty  miD  =inb^"TS  nm'^  ^33nn  33  24 

VI         •         T    T  -  -  V  f  -  -  :  r         -        V  •.   :i- 

IVDib'y  'D'V  2Wl  "IPlip  ng?:3  K)E)Dn  25 

T  -  •    T  -:  -     '  T  I   I T    :  •  v:  IV  r    T- 

rntj-jn  -n■^<3  ^n'^m  nn^?  "liifD  'ps:  hid       28 

TIT  •  T  '--II-  -  T'!  ~"  TlV 


*  kap  uxTiv  xiXtoi  a77eXot  QoLvarrnpopoL,  els  avrCiu  ob  fxrf  rpdocrj  avrov. 
kav  voTja-Q  TXj  Kaphlq.  kTruxTpa(pT]Vcn.  irpos  'Kvptov,  avayyeiXij  8k  avdpo:w(^ 
Trjv  kaxrrov  /JLefx\f/iv,  rrjv  5e  avotav  avrov  5et|;). 


:n^3i  HTprj  n"j3K-D«  n^bv^  n'^rr^:^  39  13 

i"~t  TT  -:tv-Ivtt  -:!-        v 

:™-7n  niB^n  n^m  nnirn  br\">3  mm]  15 

nns  '^3  nm]  pnb  rh't^h  ri^n  n'B^pn  is 

rnrsn  n^  p^n  ^^■^^  noDn  ni'?^  ng^n-'s  17 

tlDDn^i  D)D^  prypn  nnnn  onb  «3  nv3  is 

r^D^'  -ipai)  -I'^n  -^jdv  ^n't^v  "^?^^  ^''^O?  ^pin  40  15 

nanty]  nns  n''3  T-^^^■iD^  ln;f  fsn:  17 

:^n2  ^'DD3  vD-ia  nt^m  'p'Bi<  vd:£d  is 

•vs"  *•!  tt:         'i!       I---:  TT-: 

'  ■  ■  ■'^^it-'D'ii  n'pi<i  «in  19 

:n\§^pm]  nim  nin-^D]  l^-iw:  ann  bu">3  20 

:n2jni  njfj  -inpn  332;:  D'^^5^"n^^l  21 

r'^nrn-ii;  ^29:  l^b*^  a'^bj;^  insp^  22 

'  :n5j-npr  •  • -^3^1?:  •  ■  •  24 

nle^'p  i;'p2;n  ^nnni  nana  ]nn^  -^B^Dn  40  25 

:i^n^  npn  ninni  1s«2  ]b3«  n'mr\  26 

:nl3i  ^'Ih^  "iaT"D«  D'3i3nn  ?j' />«  nanin  27 

:D^ly  i2vb  mpn  -^bv  nna  nhD:n  28 

:"?l'nny3^  laniypni  -1153^3  l3-pnB?nn  29 


342  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

:n'2i::D  yn  ^mis^n^  ansn  vbv  ^id'       so 

iwiT)  wn  ^:^^:^2^  inly  nistyn  ^y'onn       31 

:nDin■^^^  hdh^d  id?  "^iss  v^yo'ty       32 

li-  -  tt:*  :Iv2  tt  ; 

IT  •.  T      ;  -  r  — :  t  t  :   •  :    -    i      I  i- 

IT-:-         tt:  •  V':        •  t:- 

I  •  -  T    -  T  -   -  r  '    ■ "  •  I  :  • 

I      :  V     I      •   :  :  -     :  t  -  •  —  i-  • 

:«in'  'D  ir-iD  ^sDn  m^b  ':b  nbrn        5 

it-  s    •  T    V    :  :       -  :  t  •        • 

n:^  anin  -n:D  d's^d  'p'£)^^  m«a        7 

IT  T  t  ••rrl-'-:  T-:r- 

IV    -    r-  T  1       -  :  -•  T   r    :  t    t 

:^n^'BV3V2  vyv)  "iifc<  ^nn  vrit2;'Lpy  10 

nD^Dn:  ti)«  nn^D  o'^n;  nn'B^  vsp  1 1 

:D5t^]  msj  "THD  iS2)r  ^<^!  VTmp  12 

:«^:  vsp  nnV]  t^ii/'iji  D'Vn3  ii^sa  13 

:n3«i  rnn  V3s^^  ry  i'^'  n^^^:^3  14 

itt:I  t  tt:  ^I-t  '''"• 

:DiD'"^3  vhi)  pi:^'  p3"F  ntyn  'bsD       15 

!•  -  ttI  tIt\  t:         -:- 

n«Dnn'  onnt^o  d'^«  mr  lnti?D       17 

T-:-  't:*  *"  T  "* 

:nn2?i  ypp  n^^n  Dipn  '^2  nnn  inrti^a  is 

:n^im  liapj")  f  r^  bn?  inn^  nm:  19 

:y'?j2  'n«  l^-Dsnj  K;p.^  riB^pig  =i3nnn: «"!?  20 

:]i"]'3  ^^j^y  pnm  nnin  umj  tynn  21 

ro'D-'b^y  vnn  ist  tj;"in  nnn  vnnn  22 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  343 

:nnpn»3  D't^'  d'  h'^i^d  "i'D3  htit  23 

rnn^'tt^^  olnn  nm'  n^n3  -i'«!  v^m  24 

IT    -     :  I  :  -  •  T  ;  T  T-.  I- 

:nn-'^n^  wvn  ^bm  iQvbv  m  25 

IT        ;    :    •  T  iv  :    T  t   t  ~     '     " 


D^s^a  mDJ  n2];n  pVnn 


i 


APPENDIX 


345 


I 

i 


THE   ELIHU   INTERPOLATION 

32.  1  As  these  three  men  ceased  to  answer  Job,  because  he  was 
righteous  in  his  own  eyes,  2  The  wrath  of  EHhu  ben 
Barachel  the  Buzite,  of  the  tribe  of  Ram,  was  kindled: 
his  wrath  was  kindled  against  Job,  because  he  declared 
himself  righteous  before  God  ^ ;  3  And  also  against  his 
three  friends  his  wrath  was  kindled,  because  they  had  not 
found  an  answer  and  thus  had  condemned  God.^  4  Now 
Elihu  had  waited  with  answering  Job,^  because  they  were 
older  than  he.  5  But  when  Elihu  saw  that  there  was  no 
answer  in  the  mouth  of  the  three  men,  his  WTath  was 
kindled. 

6  And  Elihu  ben  Barachel  the  Buzite  answered  and  said : 
I  am  young  in  years,  while  ye  are  hoary  old  men ; 
Wherefore  I  held  back,  and  was  afraid 

To  show  you  what  I  know. 

7  I  said,  Let  age  speak. 

Let  those  advanced  in  years  reveal  wisdom. 

8  But  of  a  truth,  it  is  the  mind  in  man. 

The  breath  of  the  Almighty  in  him  that  giveth  him  under- 
standing.^ 

1  The  Pi' 'el  saddequ  is  declarative ;  it  was,  in  fact,  so  understood  by  the 
Greek  and  Vulg. 

2  According  to  Rabbinic  tradition,  the  present  reading  'Ijjob  is  Tiqqun 
Soferim  (correction  by  the  scribes)  for  original  ha'^lohim. 

^  Insert,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  lehashib  before  'eth  'Ijjob  (Duhm). 
*  The  quahficative  be'^nosh  is  to  be  construed  both  with  ruh  and  nishmath. 

347 


348  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

9    It  is  not  those  old  in  years  ^  that  are  wise, 

Nor  the  elders  that  have  proper  understanding.  ^ 

15  They  are  confounded,  they  answer  no  more, 
Their  speech  hath  deserted  them. 

16  And  shall  I  wait,  because  they  speak  not. 
Because  they  stay  silent  and  answer  no  more  ? 

10  a    Therefore  I  say,  Harken  to  me, 

17  (10  b)     I  will  also  say  my  share,  I  will  show  what  I  know. 
11,  12    Behold,  I  waited  for  your  words,  I  listened  for  your 

wisdom,'^ 
I  looked  to  you  to  search  out  what  to  say. 
But  behold,  there  is  none  to  refute  Job, 
None  among  you  ready  to  answer  ^  his  words. 

13  Beware  lest  ye  say.  We  have  explored  wisdom's  depths, 
God  may  vanquish  him,  not  man. 

14  I  will  direct  arguments  against  him. 

But  I  will  not  answer  him  with  your  words. 

18  For  I  am  full  of  words. 

The  spirit  within  me  constraineth  me. 

19  My  bosom  is  as  wine  which  hath  no  vent. 

Like  skins  filled  with  new  wine,^  it  is  ready  to  burst. 

20  I  will  speak  that  I  may  have  relief, 
I  will  open  my  lips  and  answer. 

21  I  will  not  respect  persons, 

Nor  will  I  give  flattering  titles  to  any  man ; 

22  For  I  know  not  how  to  give  flattery  — 
Else  would  my  Maker  soon  carry  me  off. 

34.  2    Hear  my  words,  ye  wise  men. 

Give  ear  unto  me,  ye  men  of  knowledge ! 

1  Read,  in    accordance  with  the  versions,  rab  jaimm,  as  many  have 
emended. 

2  mishpat  is  adverbial  accusative. 

'  'dzin,  etc.,  is  a  circumstantial  clause. 

*  Both  moklh  and  'once  are  potential  participles. 

5  Cf .  Cant.  7.  14. 


ELIHU  INTERPOLATION  349 

3  For  the  ear  discerneth  words, 
And  the  palate  tasteth  food. 

4  Let  us  choose  the  right  course, 
Let  us  agree  on  what  is  good. 

7  Where  is  another  man  like  Job, 
Who  drinketh  up  scoffing  like  water, 

8  Who  goeth  in  company  with  the  workers  of  iniquity. 
And  walketh  with  wicked  men  ? 

5  For  Job  hath  said,  I  am  righteous, 
But  God  hath  robbed  me  of  my  right ; 

6  Notwithstanding  my  uprightness,  I  am  made  out  to  be  in- 

famous, 
A  deadly  shaft  hath  pierced  me  though  I  am  without  guilt. 

9  Yea,  he  hath  said,  It  profiteth  a  man  not 
That  he  should  find  his  delight  in  God. 

10  a,  34    Therefore,  men  of  understanding  will  say  unto  me, 
Yea,  every  wise  man  that  heareth  me :  ^ 

35  Job  speaketh  without  knowledge, 
His  words  are  without  wisdom.^ 

36  Verily,  Job  hath  been  afilicted  to  the  uttermost 
Because  of  his  answering  like  the  wicked ; 

37  For  unto  his  sin  he  addeth  rebellion, 

He  clappeth  his  hands  at  us  ^  and  multiplieth  his  words 
against  God. 
33.  1     Howbeit,  Job,  hear  my  speech 
And  harken  to  all  my  words.^ 
2    Behold,  I  have  opened  my  mouth. 

The  tongue  in  my  mouth  now  speaketh. 

1  An  indication  that  w.  34ff.  originally  followed  v.  9  is  found  in  v.  10  a, 
which  is  made  up  of  the  opening  and  concluding  words  of  v.  34,  the  original 
shome'd  of  the  latter  being  changed  to  shim'u. 

2  35.  16  is  a  variant :  Job  openeth  his  mouth  in  vanity 

And  multiplieth  words  without  knowledge. 

3  That  is,  in  derision,  cf .  27.  23. 

*  V.  31  is  probably  a  variant :  Mark  well,  Job,  harken  to  me ! 

Hold  thy  peace,  and  I  will  speak ! 


350  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

36.  2    Suffer  me  a  while,  and  I  will  show  thee  knowledge. 
For  I  have  yet  somewhat  to  say  on  God's  behalf.^ 

3  I  draw  my  knowledge  from  the  distant  past,^ 
I  will  set  forth  the  righteousness  of  my  Maker. 

4  Truly,  my  words  have  no  deception  in  them, 
One  perfect  in  knowledge  is  before  thee. 

33. 3     .  . 

My  lips  speak  sincerely.' 

5  If  thou  canst,  answer  me. 
Stand  forth,  oppose  me !  '^ 

33    If  not,  listen  thou  unto  me. 

Be  silent,  and  I  will  teach  thee  wisdom. 

6  Behold,  God  created  me  even  as  He  did  thee, 
I  also  am  formed  of  the  clay.^ 

7  My  terror  need  not  affright  thee. 

And  my  hand  will  not  be  heavy  upon  thee.^ 

8  Surely,  thou  hast  said  in  my  hearing, 
I  have  heard  thee  say  in  plain  words : 

9  I  am  clean,  without  transgression, 

I  am  innocent,  there  is  no  iniquity  in  me. 
10    Lo,  He  findeth  pretexts  for  proceeding  against  me. 
He  holdeth  me  for  his  enemy. 

1  Insert,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  li  after  'od. 

2/.e.  from  traditional  lore;  as  to  merahoq  meaning  "distant  past," 
of.  Is.  22.  11,  25.1,37.26. 

3  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  evidently  corrupt.  Evidence,  that  33.  3 
originally  was  the  continuation  of  36.  4  is  found  in  Gk.  36.  4  ipd  iir'  dX-ndeias. 
The  remainder  of  Gk.  36.  4  is  as  uncertain  as  the  first  part  of  Heb.  33.  3. 

*  V.  32  is  a  variant :  If  thou  hast  anything  to  say,  answer  me. 
Speak,  for  I  desire  to  justify  thee. 

^  The  customary  translations  of  v.  6  a  are  all  grammatically  impossible. 
The  half  verse  is  unquestionably  corrupt.  The  original  reading  has  been 
preserved  by  Vulg.,  Ecce,  et  me  sicut  et  te  fecit  Deus,  the  Hebrew  of  which 
read :  hen  'am  kemoka  'asani  'el.  Additional  proof  of  this  reading  may 
be  seen  in  the  variant  v.  4 :  The  spirit  of  God  hath  made  me. 

The  breath  of  the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life. 

^  Read  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  ka-ppi,  as  commonly  emended. 


ELIHU  INTERPOLATION  351 

11  He  hath  put  my  feet  in  the  stocks, 

He  keepeth  close  watch  on  all  my  ways. 
13    Wherefore  dost  thou  charge  against  Him 
That  He  giveth  not  account  of  His  matters  ? 

12  Behold,  I  answer  thee.  Thou  art  not  right  in  this. 
For  God  is  greater  than  man. 

36.  5    Lo,  God  is  mighty  in  strength 

6    He  preserveth  not  the  life  of  the  wicked, 

But  meteth  out  justice  to  the  afflicted ; 
34.  21     For  His  eyes  are  upon  the  ways  of  men. 

And  He  beholdeth  all  their  steps. 
36.  7    He  withdraweth  not  his  eyes  from  the  righteous. 

But  with  kings  upon  the  throne 

He  setteth  them  forever  and  they  are  exalted. 

8  And  if  they  be  bound  in  fetters. 
Be  held  in  the  cords  of  affliction, 

9  Then,  He  showeth  them  their  deeds 

And  their  transgressions  —  that  they  have  vaunted  their 
power. 
33.  14    For  God  speaketh  once, 

Yea,  twice,  though  man  heedeth  it  not : 

15,  and  last  word  of  16 

In  a  dream,  in  a  vision  of  the  night. 
When  deep  sleep  falleth  upon  men, 

When  on  their  couches  they  lie  in  slumber.  He  frighteneth 
them.^ 

16,  36.  10.    Then  He  openeth  their  ears  to  instruction,^ 

And  commandeth  that  they  return  from  evil, 

^  Instead  oijahtom,  vocalize,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  Vet.  Lat.  and  Syr., 
jShittem  (Bickel  and  many  others) . 

2  In  33.  16  ubemosaram,  which  is  questioned  by  a  number  of  scholars,  is  a 
corruption  of  lamusar ;  the  half  verse,  being  identical  with  36.  10  a,  furnishes 
evidence  that  36.  8-12  was  originally  combined  with  33.  14ff. 


352  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

33.  17    That  He  may  turn  men  from  their  evil  doing 

And  make  a  man  to  give  up  his  pride ;  ^ 
18    He  seeketh  to  save  their  souls  from  the  pit. 

Their  lives  from  going  down  to  Sheol.^ 
36.  11     If  they  harken  and  serve  ffim, 

They  will  complete  their  days  in  prosperity 

And  their  years  in  comfort. 
12    But  if  they  harken  not,  they  will  go  down  to  Sheol,^ 

And  they  will  die  without  knowledge  of  God. 
33.  19    Or  He  chastise th  him  ^  with  sickness  in  bed. 

With  ceaseless  suffering  of  his  body, 

20  So  that  food  is  loathsome  ^  to  him, 
And  dainty  meat  abhorrent  to  his  soul ; 

21  His  flesh  is  so  wasted  that  it  cannot  be  seen. 

And  his  bones  are  laid  bare,  that  used  not  to  be  visible ; 

22  His  soul  draweth  near  to  the  pit. 
His  life  Cometh  nigh  unto  death  ^  : 

23  If  there  were  surrounding  him 
Messenger  ...  a  thousand,  .  .  . 
To  proclaim  before  man  .  .  .  ^ 

*  Read  umigewa  geher  jatte. 

'  Read,  on  the  ground  of  Syr.  hisMola.        '  As  in  33.  18,  read  hisM'ola. 

*  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  Vulg.  and  Syr.,  '5  jokihennu  (Nichols 
and  Beer-K). 

^  Read  wSzihama  (Duhm  and  others). 

6  Read,  in  accordance  with  the  versions,  Umo  maweth,  as  many  scholars 
have  emended. 

'  There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  futile  discussion  among  Bibhcal  scholars 
as  to  whether  or  not  Elihu  believed  in  angelic  intercession.  The  fact  is, 
the  reading  of  the  present  Hebrew  is  due  entirely  to  text  corruption.  It 
is  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  strange  transformation  which  ancient 
texts  have  sometimes  undergone.  The  original  text  has  been  preserved 
by  the  Greek  and  reads : 

Even  if  there  were  a  thousand  death-carrying  messengers, 

Not  one  of  them  should  harm  him, 

If  with  sincere  heart  he  would  seek  to  return  to  God, 

If  he  would  proclaim  before  men  his  guilt. 

Would  confess  his  folly. 


ELIHU  INTERPOLATION  353 

34.  31    If  he  would  say  unto  God/  Forgive,  I  will  not  offend 

any  more; 
32    If  I  have  sinned,^  make  Thou  it  known  to  me, 

If  I  have  spoken  ^  iniquity,  I  will  do  it  no  more ; 
33.  24    Then  would  God  be  gracious  unto  him,  and  would  say. 

Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit, 

I  have  accepted  a  ransom ; 

25  His  flesh  would  become  softer  than  a  child's. 
He  would  return  to  the  days  of  his  youth. 

26  Then  would  he  confess  unto  God  that  He  had  been  gracious 

unto  him. 
So  that  he  saw  His  face  with  joy ; 
And  that  He  restored  unto  man  his  righteousness. 

27  And  before  men  he  would  sing  and  say, 

I  did  sin  and  did  pervert  that  which  was  right. 

Yet  God  hath  not  requited  me  according  to  my  sinfulness ;  ^ 

28  He  hath  delivered  my  soul  from  going  down  to  the  pit. 
And  my  life  beholdeth  the  light. 

29  Lo,  all  this  doth  God  work 
Twice,  yea  thrice,  with  a  man, 

30  To  deliver  his  soul  from  the  pit. 

To  enlighten  him  with  the  light  of  life. 

THE  LATER  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  SPEECH  OF  GOD 

A    39.  13-18 
39.  13    The  wings  of  the  ostrich  wave  proudly, 

5 

14    For  she  leaveth  her  eggs  for  the  earth  and  the  sand  to  hatch, 

^Read,  with  different  word  division,  'Moah  'amar  (Beer-K.). 
2  Read,  in  accordance  with  Vulg.  Hm  hata'thi  (Nichols  and  Beer-K.). 
'  Instead  of  pa'altl,  read,  in  accordance  with  Vujg.,  dibharti. 
*  Read  we'el  Id'  shiwwd  ll  ka'dwom ;  cf.  11.  6. 

5  V.  13  6  does  not  admit  of  translation ;   the  original  reading  cannot 
be  ascertained. 


354  THE  BOOK   OF  JOB 

15  Forgetting  that  a  foot  may  crush  them, 
Or  a  wild  beast  trample  upon  them. 

16  She  dealeth  cruelly  with  her  young  ones  as  if  they  were 

not  hers, 
Though  her  labor  be  in  vain,  she  is  without  care ; 

17  Because  God  hath  deprived  her  of  wisdom. 
And  hath  imparted  to  her  no  understanding. 

18  When  the  hunters  come  ^  she  fleeth  away, 
She  scorneth  the  horse  and  his  rider. 

B    40.  15-24 

40.  15    Behold  the  hippopotamus  which   I  made  as  well  as 
thee; 
He  eateth  grass  as  the  ox. 

16  Lo,  his  strength  is  in  his  loins, 

His  force  in  the  muscles  of  his  belly. 

17  He  stiff eneth  his  tail  like  a  cedar; 

The  sinews  of  his  thighs  are  knit  together 

18  His  bones  are  as  tubes  of  brass. 
His  limbs  are  like  bars  of  iron. 

19  He  is  the  master- work  of  God, 

20  The  mountains  furnish  him  with  food, 
And  the  beasts  of  the  woods  .  .  .^ 

21  He  lieth  under  the  lotus  trees. 

In  the  covert  of  the  reed  and  the  fen. 

22  The  lotus  trees  cover  him  with  their  shade ; 
The  willows  of  the  brook  surround  him. 

23  If  the  river  overfloweth  he  trembleth  not ; 

He  is  confident  though  a  Jordan  swell  even  to  his  mouth. 

1  Read  ho'  morlm,  as  Wright  and  others  have  excellently  emended. 

2  V.  19  6  is  hopelessly  corrupt. 

3  The  rest  is  uncertain. 


ADDITIONS  TO  SPEECH  OF  GOD  355 


24     ...  can  one  take  him, 
Or  pierce  his  nose  .  .  } 


C    40.25-41.26 

40.  25    Canst  thou  draw  out  the  crocodile  with  a  fish-hook, 

Or  press  down  his  tongue  with  a  cord  ? 

26  Canst  thou  put  a  reed  through  his  nose, 
Or  pierce  his  jaw  with  a  hook  ? 

27  Will  he  make  many  supplications  unto  thee. 
Or  speak  soft  words  unto  thee  ? 

28  Will  he  make  a  covenant  with  thee, 

That  thou  mayest  take  him  for  a  servant  forever  ? 

29  Wilt  thou  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird. 
Or  tie  him  up  for  thy  maidens  ? 

30  Will  the  traders  traffic  with  him. 

Will  they  divide  him  among  the  merchants  ? 

31  Canst  thou  stick  his  hide  full  of  spears. 
Or  his  head  full  of  harpoons  ? 

32  Lay  thy  hands  on  him !    Think  of  the  fight ! 
Thou  wilt  not  do  so  again. 

41.  1    The  hope  of  such  a  man  is  bound  to  be  vain.^ 

Would    not    one  be   cast   down    at   the   mere    sight   of 
him? 

2  None  is  so  reckless  that  he  dare  stir  him  up. 
Who  could  hold  his  ground  against  him  ?  ^ 

3  Who  could  approach  him  and  escape  unscathed  ? 
Under  the  whole  heavens  not  one.^ 

*  Neither  he'enaw  nor  hemoqSshlm  can  be  the  original  reading. 

2  Nikzaba  is  perfect  of  certitude. 

2  Read,  in  accordance  with  many  Mss.  and  Targ.,  lefanaw  (Beer-K. 
and  others). 

^  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  wajjishlam,  and  with  Beer-K.  and  others, 
hiqdimo  and  lo'  hu. 


356  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

4  I  will  not  be  silent  about  .  .  } 

5  Who  can  strip  off  his  outer  garments  ? 
Who  can  penetrate  his  plate  armor  ?  ^ 

6  Who  can  open  the  doors  of  his  face  ? 
Round  about  his  teeth  is  terror. 

7  His  grooved  scales  are  his  pride, 

Linked  together  as  if  fastened  with  a  tight  seal. 

8  They  are  so  close  to  one  another 
That  no  air  can  pass  between. 

9  They  are  joined  to  one  another, 
Interlocked  so  that  they  cannot  be  sundered. 

10  His  sneezing  flashes  forth  light, 

And  his  eyes  are  like  the  eyelids  of  the  dawn.^ 

11  Burning  torches  pass  out  of  his  mouth, 
And  sparks  of  fire  leap  forth. 

12  Out  of  his  nostrils  cometh  vapor 
As  from  a  seething,  steaming  ^  pot. 

13  His  breath  blazeth  like  coals, 

And  a  flame  issueth  from  his  mouth. 

14  In  his  neck  abideth  strength. 
And  terror  danceth  before  him. 

15  The  flakes  of  his  flesh  form  a  solid  mass,^ 
They  are  firm  as  a  rock  upon  him,  immovable. 

*  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  uncertain. 

2  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.,  shir j  on;  as  to  the  meaning  of  kef  el, 
"plate,"  ''folds,"  as  correctly  understood  by  Gk.,  cf.  kaful,  Exod.  28.  16, 
39.9. 

3  The  explanation  of  this  odd  comparison  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
crocodile  eyes  are  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  for  dawn  ;  the  eyes  of  the 
crocodile,  before  his  head  appears  above  the  surface,  emit  a  reddish  light 
in  the  water. 

^  Read,  in  accordance  with  Syr.  and  Vulg.,  we'ogem,  as  variously 
emended. 

^  Read,  in  accordance  with  Gk.  and  Targ.,  duhhagu  (Beer-K.  and 
others). 


ADDITIONS  TO  SPEECH  OF  GOD  357 

16  His  heart  is  as  firm  as  a  stont;, 
Firm  as  the  nether  millstone. 

17  When  he  emergeth,  the  mighty  are  afraid, 
They  are  terrified  out  of  their  senses. 

18  If  one  goeth  at  him  with  a  sword,  it  doth  not  avail. 

Nor  doth  the  spear  avail,  nor  the  dart,  nor  the  pointed 
shaft. 

19  He  counteth  iron  as  straw, 
And  brass  as  rotten  wood. 

20  The  arrow  cannot  make  him  flee. 
Sling-stones  are  as  stubble  to  him. 

21  Clubs  seem  like  stubble. 

And  he  laugheth  at  the  whizzing  javelin. 

22  His  underparts  are  like  sharp  potsherds ; 

He  spreadeth  as  it  were  a  threshing-wain  upon  the  mire. 

23  He  maketh  the  deep  to  boil  like  a  cauldron, 
He  maketh  the  sea  like  a  pot  of  ointment. 

24  He  maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him ; 
One  would  think  the  deep  to  be  hoary. 

25  Upoji  earth  there  is  not  his  like. 
Made,  as  he  is,  without  fear. 

26  Everything  that  is  haughty  feareth  him,^ 
Who  is  king  of  all  the  proud  animals. 

1  Read,  with  Gunkel  and  others,  'othojlra'. 


I.   INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Abbreviated  writing,  213.  225,  227,  247, 
251,  274.  280 

Abraham,  intercession  of,  for  Sodom, 
74,  note;  see  Weli-cult 

Abstract  noun,  gender  of,  243,  245 ; 
used  instead  of  concrete  noun,  194 

Accusative,  adverbial  (of  specification) , 
175,  178,  183,  184,  189,  195,  209,  211, 
213,  note  3,  234,  238,  239,  245,  249, 
257,  292,  348,  note  2 ;  of  comparison, 
185,  195,  223,  243,  255,  260,  281,  283, 
also  102  (8.  2),  356  (41.  7) ;  of  direc- 
tion, 275,  280  ;   of  place,  243,  250 

Adage,  see  Proverb 

Ahriman,  32  f . 

Alliteration,  231 

Ancestor-worship,  165  f. 

Angelic  mediation  not  met  with  in  Job, 
165.  352,  note  7 

Angels,  163 

Apocalypse  Isaiah  24-27,  32  f . ;  date 
of,  77  f . 

Apostasy  (Blasphemy),  Paul's  trial 
for,  43  f . ;  Talmudic  law  applying 
to,  44  f . 

Apparition,  64.  265 

Appositive,  203,  217,  231,  243 

Arabia-Petraea,  155,  165 ;  Bedouin  of, 
36.  221 

Aramaisms,  79,  167,  183,  also  264 

Aristarchus  of  Samos,  281  f . 

Artaxerxes  II  Mnemon,  77  ff. 

Artaxerxes  III  Ochus,  77  f . 

'Ash,  'A.  'al  banceha,  see  Bear 

Ash-heap,  see  Mazbala 

Assertive  particle.  225  f . 

Astronomy,  advance  of,  in  age  of  Job- 
writer,  281 

Atmospheric  obscuration.  181 


Babylonian  story   of   Shubshi-meshri- 
Bel.  10  f . 


Bear,  Bear,  "with  her  young,"  182; 
substitution  by  the  Greek  for,  182  f. 

Bildad,  character  of,  177  f.,  228,  230, 
268 

Blood,  seat  of  life.  220 

Blood-revenge,  and  primitive  belief 
by  which  governed.  222 ;  erroneous 
view  regarding.  219-222;  meaning 
and  origin  of  "Let  the  earth  not 
cover  my  blood,"  221  f. ;  meaning 
and  origin  of  "  Let  my  blood  not  sink 
in  the  earth,"  221 

Bow,  figurative  meaning  of,  211; 
"loosen  bowstring,"  215 

Brachylogy,  173,  183,  184,  190,  194  f., 
199,  202,  212,  222,  225,  234,  237, 
239,  261,  262,  273,  274,  283,  289 

"Brother  to  jackals,"  236 

Burial,  in  a  foreign  land,  221 ;  of  the 
poor  in  ancient  society,  252  f . 

Burial-rites,  204,  note,  221 

Buried  in  a  mat  of  reeds,  252,  253 

Celestial  pole,  281 
Chambers  of  the  South,  183,  275 
Circumstantial  clause,   158,   173,   187, 
197.  204,  217,  234.  261,  283 ;  formed 
with  imperfect  with  waw  consecutive, 
160.    161,   177.   181,   188,   215,   348, 
note  3.  also  106  (10.  8) 
City  gate,    seat  of   court  of  justice, 

167 
Coiled  serpent,  see  Ti^mat 
"Companion  of  ostriches,"  236 
Compound  noun,    157;    formed  with 
the  negative,  185,  187, 195,  257 ;  with 
prepositional  phrase,  185,  212,  256 

Daniel  legend,  of  Book  of  Daniel,  9 

of  Ezekiel's  days,  8  f . 
David,  220 
Demiurgic  wisdom,  see  Logos 


359 


360 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Demonstrative,  interjectional  use  of, 
238 

Derisive  songs,  214 

Deutero-Isaiah,  70,  75;  offers  no 
parallel  to  Job,  80,  83  f . ;  God-con- 
ception of,  compared  with  Job's,  34 

Direct  object,  construction  of,  with 
U,  167 

Dragon,  Fleeing  Dragon,  32,  33,  note  3, 
144,  158,  177,  282 

Dualism,  vii,  34 ;  conquest  of  Jewish 
thought  by,  32  f. 

"Dust  in  thy  mouth,"  45,  note 

Dust,  throwing  of,  45,  note 

Earth-demons,  170 

East,  men  of,  ancient  and  present  use 
of  term,  151 ;   origin  of,  151 

EcHpse  of  the  sun,  157 

Egyptian  poem,  The  Discourse  between 
a  Man  Weary  of  Life  and  his  own 
Soul,  252  f . ;  not  related  to  Book  of 
Job,  11  f. 

Elephantiasis,  26,  160,  176,  218 

Elihu-interpolation,  4,  6,  85  f.,  347  ff. 

Eliphaz,  character  of,  47  f.,  54,  161, 
168,  200  f.,  203,  261 

EUipsis,  24,  45,  note,  158,  159,  161,  162, 
164,  168,  177,  178,  181, 187, 188, 189, 
195,  197,  202,  203,  204,  211,  213,  215, 
226,  note,  228,  245,  246,  247,  249, 
250,  260,  265,  270,  274,  287,  290 ;  of 
apodosis,  196  f . ;  of  protasis,  175 ; 
of  subject  of  hinne,  184 

Emphatic  indetermination,  178,  194, 
203 

Emphatic  infinitive,  169,  201,  264, 
271,  a^so  130  (30.  6) 

Emphatic  pronoun,  159 

Enoch,  Book  of,  163,  note 

Epilogue,  4,  5,  16,  69 

Eschatology,  33  ;   rise  of,  76  ff. 

Eshmunazar,  tomb-inscription  of,  16  f . 

Euphemism,  21,  155  f.,  162,  200 

Ezekiel,  220 ;  vision  of,  265,  282 ;  see 
Retribution  and  Suffering 

Ezra,  77 

"Fatherof  rain,"  289 
Foetus,  ancient  view  of  formation  of, 
186 


"First-born  of  death,"  230  f. 

Fleeing  Dragon,  see  Dragon 

Friends,    belief    of,    in    miracles,    68; 

character    and    fixed    viewpoint   of, 

41  f.,  45  f.,  47  f.,  171  f.,  175  f.,  177  f.. 

187  f.,  201,  228  f.,  230  f.,  233,  241  f., 

253,  268  f . 

Gadish  (Kuhba),  252 

"Gall,  pour  out  (enter),  the,"  see  Liver 

Gar,  social  status  of,  237,  285 

Genitive,  descriptive  (qualificative) , 
178,  240,  243,  260,  274,  also  98  (6.  7) 
128  (21.  19) ;  objective,  188,  195, 
198,  199,  214,  230,  262;  subjective, 
248 

Gods,  see  Heavenly  beings 

Greek,  Hellenistic  (vornacular) ,  usage 
of,  223,  236,  284 

Greek  Version,  character  of,  viii  f. ; 
governed  by  traditional  interpreta- 
tion of  Job,  viii  ff.,  255,  283  ;  text- 
contamination  in,  167.  188,  226,  259, 
273,  284 

Hades,  location  of,  183 

Haggai,  77 

Halo,  210  f.,  230 

"  Heap  coals  of  fire  on  his  head"  (Prov. 

25.  22),  82,  note 
Heavenly  beings,  156,  also  34 
Hebrew,  dying  out  of,  79  f . 
Heliocentric  system,  281 
Hendiadys,  162,  186,  274 
Heraclides  of  Pontus,  281 
Hereafter,    hope    in,    72  f . ;     hope    in, 

denied  in  Job.  viii,  ix,  33,  52,  76  f., 

172,  193,  198  f.,  239;  hope  in,  origin 

and  rise  of,  33,  76  ff.,  199 
Hexateuch,  stories  of,  6 
Historical  books,  stories  of,  6 
"Hold  my  life  between  my  teeth,"  16, 

196 
"Holy  beings"  (qedoshim),  165  ff. 
Horn,  figurative  meaning  of,  218  f. 

Ideogrammatic  writing,  see  Taw 
Ijjdb,  theories  about  etymology  of,  11, 

note  1 
Immanence,  viii,  71,  191  f. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


361 


Imperfect,  diverse  modal  nuances  of, 
183,  184,  239,  264;  of  ingressive 
action,  244 ;  of  progressive  duration, 
218;  of  reiterated  action,  161,  211, 
244 ;  with  waw  consecutive,  in  apo- 
dosis,  161,  175,  178 ;  with  waw  con- 
secutive, in  protasis,  187  ;  with  waw 
consecutive,  in  result  clauses,  169 

Impersonal  construction,  158,  159  f., 
178,  187,  261,  also  121  (18.  14) 

Infinitive  used  in  passive  sense,  177, 
198,  269,  also  118  (30.  1) 

Interrogative  particle,  position  of,  164 

Isaiah  63.  7-64.  11,  date  of,  166,  note 

Jeremiah  xi,  58 ;  see  Problem  of  suffer- 
ing and  Retribution 

Job,  Book  of,  3,  4,  33,  82 ;  acceptance 
into  the  Canon  of,  x  f. ;  attitude  of 
writer's  age  to,  vii,  x  ff.,  29,  232; 
author  of,  70 ;  author  of,  experience 
and  fortune  of,  3 ;  author  of,  genius 
and  skill  of,  7,  23,  37,  41, 162 ;  author 
of,  God-idea  and  other  advanced 
views  of,  34  f.,  36,  68  f.,  159  f.,  200  ; 
author  of,  human  sympathy  of, 
254  f . ;  author  of,  keen  analytic 
mind  of,  7,  162,  254;  author  of, 
versed  in  science  of  his  age,  181,  186, 
278,  281  f . ;  date  of,  4,  70-80,  84 ; 
drama  of,  29  f.,  38  ff. ;  drama  of, 
conflict  portrayed  in,  27  ff.,  39  f., 
42,  47,  48-52,  60,  66  f.,  160,  171  ff., 
180  f.,  186,  190  ff.,  207  ff.,  231  ff. ; 
drama  of,  plan  and  purpose  of,  29  f., 
40  ff.,  46  ff.,  52,  61,  68,  73  ;  problem 
of,  26,  42,  71 ;  problem  of,  twofold 
aspect  of,  47,  49,  50,  52  ff.,  57,  160, 
173,  180  f.,  190  f.;  problem  of, 
solution  of,  as  regards  (1)  retributive 
justice,  57  f . ;  (2)  principle  of 
divine  world-economy,  58  f.,  60, 
63  f.,  81,  191,  286;  (3)  Job's  spirit- 
ual experience,  59  ff.,  65  ff.,  83; 
revelation-scene  of,  4,  40,  52,  61, 
265 ;  revelation-scene  of,  object  of, 
61-65,  286  f.,  290;  revelation-scene 
of,  primitive  notion  on  which  based, 
34  f.,  37,  265;  revelation-scene  of. 
Job's  act  of  worship  in,  65  f.,  291 ; 
revelation-scene  of,  original  ending 


of,  64  f.,  66-69;  revelation-scene  of, 
interpolated  ending  of,  66  ff. ;  revela- 
tion-scene of,  other  interpolations  in, 
290,  291,  355  ff. ;  see  also  146,  277, 
286 ;  structure  of,  4,  38 ;  unity  of 
action  of,  24-30,  63  f.,  65,  66 

Job-narrative,  4  f .,  9 ;  analysis  of,  10, 
20  ff.,  40,  64  ff. ;  essentially  different 
from  Job-legend  known  to  Ezekiel, 
8  ff. ;  integral  part  of  author's 
design,  5  ff.,  24-30,  31,  40  f.,  64  ff., 
67  ff.,  163;  literary  form  of,  12-16; 
literary  features  of,  20  ff. ;  literary 
inferiority  of  Greek  version  of,  20, 
22 ;  product  of  reflective  art,  23 ; 
sacrifices  offered  by  Job  and  friends, 
35 ;  Scene  in  Heaven,  31  f.,  34,  37, 
40  f.,  61,  66 ;  the  Satan,  30  ff.,  163  f. ; 
the  Satan,  name  of,  31 ;  visit  of  the 
friends,  22 ;  rites  performed  by 
friends,  43  ff. ;  reconciliation  of 
friends  with  Job,  67  f . 

Job,  the  suffering  hero,  his  conception 
of  God,  viii,  34  f.,  50  f.,  58  f.,  60, 
63  f.,  66,  68  f.,  180,  184,  187  f., 
190  ff.,  277 ;  his  conception  of  the 
relation  between  God  and  man,  55- 
58,  191  f.,  208,  232 ;  his  faith  in  God, 
viii,  21  f.,  27  f.,  40,  48  f.,  51  f.,  56, 
57  f.,  59  f.,  186,  192,  208,  222,  232  f., 
249 ;  his  view  of  human  reason,  42, 
192;  his  view  of  miracles,  68  f., 
222  f . ;  his  view  of  the  moral  law  and 
sense,  viii,  30,  40,  51,  55,  57,  60 ;  his 
view  of  piety  and  sin,  41,  51,  54  ff., 
175  f . ;  his  view  of  traditional  lore 
and  belief,  42,  66,  192 ;  stricken  in 
his  prime,  193  f.,  211,  248 

Jonah,  Book  of,  35;  literary  quality 
of,  23 

Khamuas  and  his  son,  tale  of,  252 
Kima,  name  of  Pleiades,  182 
"King  of  terrors,"  231 
Kubba,  see  Gadish 

Land-robbery,  255 

Latifundia,  255 

Law  of  Holiness,  74  f. 

Laws  of  Nature,  68  f . 

Leper,  treatment  of,  43,  note,  68 


362 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Leviathan,  see  Tiamat 

Life,  comparison  of,  to  thread  or  web, 

164 
Life-thread,  164,  223 
LiHth,  205 
Liver,  together  with  gall  and  reins,  seat 

of   physical    and   mental   life,    218; 

augury,  218;    "strike  the  liver"  or 

"reins,"   217  f. ;    "pour  out  (enter) 

the  gall,"  218,  246 
Logos-idea,   81  f .,   202 ;    not  found  in 

Job,  xii,  81  f.,  202,  277 

Malachi,  77 

Masoretic  corrections  of  anaw,  ani,  256 
Mazhala  (ash-heap),  43,  note  1,  68,  157 
Masses,  condition  of,  in  ancient  society, 

254  f . 
Meter,     Hebrew,     xiv;      mistake     in 

Sievers'  system  of,  15,  note 
Micah  ben  Jimlah,  vision  of,  32 
Monotheism,  33,  34 
Moral  law,  reality  of,  viii,  60,  61 
Mother  Earth,  287  f. 
Mythological  language,  34 

Names  of  God  in  Job,  35  ff. 

Narratives,  Bibhcal,  typical  form  of, 
12  f..  14  ff. ;  Indo-European,  same 
form  common  to,  13  f . 

Nehemiah,  77 

Nejgal,  240 

Nightly  swarm  of  Hecate,  204,  note  1 

Nominal  sentence  expressing,  com- 
mand, 174,  note;  subjunctive  mode, 
174,  176  f . 

North,  the,  see  Celestial  pole 

North  wind,  281 

Oath,  in  ancient  times,  263 

Object  clause,  171,  225;  anteposition 
of,  239 

Objective  suffix,  162;  diverse  syn- 
tactical relation  of  173,  212,  263,  276 

Orion,  182  ;  substitution  by  the  Greek 
for,  182  f . 

Palm-tree,  s^-mbol  of  longe\nty,  206 
Paronomasia,  237 

Pasek,  function  of,  164,  187,  217,  285 
Perfect,     of     certitude,     355     (41.  1) ; 
precative,  239,  353  (34.  31) 


Phoenix,  289  ;   fable  of,  211  f . 

Pillars  of  the  earth  (of  Hercules),  181, 

282 
Piel,    declarative,    177,    347,    note    I, 

also  134  (27.  5) 
Pit,  the,  253 
Pleiades,  182 
Pluralia  tantum,  243,  271 
Po'el,  184 

Popular  tales,  traits  of,  20,  22,  note  2 
Potential  participle,  158,  176,  185,  256, 

275.  348,  note  4 
Prayer,    "The   Lord   gave,"    etc.,    21, 

note  1,  36 
Preposition  \\ath  nominal   declension, 
179,  183,  257,  also  144  (26.8),  145 
(28.  5),  150  (39.  10),  151  (40.  12) 
Prepositional  phrase  in  ante-  and  post- 
position, 239,  262 
Priestly  Code,  74  f.,  77 
Primeval  man,  see  Logos 
Primeval  sea,  33,  note  3,  177,  282 
Problem  of  suffering,  history  of,  71-75, 
83  f. ;    solution  of,  by  friends,  47  f., 
49,   52,    163,    168  f.,    171,    173.    179. 
189,    203,    268  f.;     solution    of,    by 
Job,  see  Job,  Book  of 
Prologue,  see  Job-narrative 
Pronoun,  anticipatory,  271 ;    referring 
to    content   of   sentence,    162,    285 ; 
reflexive,  185 ;  repetition  of,  243  ;  sec- 
ond   singular,     used    impersonally, 
176 
Proverb,     quotation    of,     in     ancient 
narrative-literature,    18 ;     quotation 
of,    in   Biblical   narrative-literature, 
18 ;  quotation  of,  in  Job,  16  S.,  36  f., 
157.  162,  168,  177,  190,  191,  206,  209. 
250 ;      quotation    of,    in    prophetic 
literature,  18  f.,  note 
Proverbs,    Book    of,    contrasted    with 

Job,  80,  82 
Psalm  73,  relation  of,  to  Job,  250 
Psalms,  84 
Ptolemy  I,  78 
Pythagoras  of  Samos,  281 

QuaUficative,  162,  174,  175,  176,  203, 
216,  281,  282,  347,  note  4 


Rahab,  see  Tiamat 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


363 


Raven,  bird  of  ill  omen,  45,  note 

Rainfall  in  desert,  289 

Relative  clause,  ante-position  of,  229 

Repetitions  in  ancient  narrative-lit- 
erature, 19 ;  in  Biblical  narrative- 
literature,  19  f . ;  in  Job-narrative, 
16,  20  f. 

Resurrection,  see  Hereafter 

Retribution,  material,  development  of 
belief  in,  71  f.,  75  ff. ;  material, 
Deuteronomists'  viewpoint  regard- 
ing, 74 ;  material,  Ezekiel's  view  of, 
9  f.,  74  f. ;  material,  Jeremiah's  and 
preexilic  prophets'  view  of,  71  f .,  74 ; 
material,  Job's  contemporaries'  and 
friends'  view  of,  41,  47,  52,  63  f.,  66  f., 
73,  75, 82, 160, 168, 171,  177  f .,  187  fif., 
201,  228  f . ;   spiritual,  57  f. 

Revelation,  41,  48,  163,  203;  mystic 
agitation  attending,  162 

Rites  performed  at  Paul's  trial  for 
apostasy,  43  f . 

Ruins,  forbidden  for  habitation,  204  f . ' 
haunted  by  evil  spirits,  204  f . 

Ruth,  story  of,  literary  qualities  of,  23 

Satan,  belief  in,  31,  77 ;  belief  in,  origin 

of,  32  f. ;   belief  in,  rise  of,  31,  note  1, 

32  f . ;  name  of,  32 
Satan,  the,  in  Zechariah,  31 ;    the,  in 

Job,  see  Job-narrative 
"Scourge  of  the  tongue,"  169  f. 
Seven,  number,  169;  "six  and  seven," 

169 
Sheol,  alternation  of  night  and  day  in, 

187 ;    life  in,  159,  200 ;    life  in,  view 

of,  of  Job-author,  159,  200 ;    life  in, 

view  of,  of  Euripides,  200 
Sin  and  piety,  view  of,  in  Job's  age, 

55 ;  of  Job,  see  Job,  the  suffering  hero 
"Skin  for  skin,"  157 
Stock-phrases,  17,  217,  221,  224 
Stola,  badge  of  distinction,  234 
Style,  Biblical,  peculiarity  of,  46,  note 
Suffering,  as  viewed  by  Ezekiel,  9  f., 

74;    as  viewed  by  friends  and  their 

age,  9f.,  28  f.,  39  f.,  45  f.,  73,  161, 

168,  171,  206  f.,  216,  229,  248;    see 

also  Problem  of  suffering 
Sword,    divine    symbol,    240 ;    use  of 

hereb  without  article,  240 


Syriac  Alexander-legend,  parallel  in,  to 
Job  26.  8  and  36.  29,  278  f . 

Taw,  use  of,  as  ideograph,  265  f. 

Text-disorder,  10  f.,  176,  223,  225,  234, 
241,  245  f.,  251,  258  f.,  290,  291,  350, 
note  3,  351,  note  2 

Text-omission,  copyists'  method  of 
dealing  with,  x  f.,  164,  183,  187,  194, 
204,  214,  216,  225,  233,  235,  240,  245, 
247,  249,  278,  279,  286,  290,  291 

Throne  of  God  (throne-chariot),  280, 
282 

"Thrown  away  on  the  hills,"  252  f. 

Tiamat  (Leviathan,  Rahab),  32  f., 
77,  158,  177,  183,  282;  fusion  of, 
with  Ahriman-myth,  32  f. ;  Mar- 
duk's  struggle  with,  transferred  to 
Yahweh,  183,  282 

Tiqqun  Soferim,  177,  347,  note  2 

Torrential  rain,  289 

Traditional  belief  and  lore,  as  re- 
garded by  friends  and  their  age, 
41  f. ;  see  Job,  the  suffering  hero 

Traditional  interpretation  of  Job,  viii, 
ix  f.,  255,  283  ;  rise  of,  viii  ff.,  255, 
283 

Tribal  reponsibility,  71  f.,  74 

Trito-Isaiah,  77,  84 

Universe,  ancient  conception  of,  169 
Us,  location  of,  155 

Valuables,  placing  of,  in  graves,  159 
Verbs,     expressing     haste,     secondary 
meaning  of,  243 

Weli-cult,  common  Semitic  practice, 
165  ;  origin  of,  165  f. ;  prevalent  in 
Israel  until  post-exilic  and  Talmudic 
times,  166  f . ;  Abraham  and  Jacob- 
Israel  worshipped  as  Weli,  166  f . ; 
Moses  worshipped  as  Weli,  166 

Wild  ass,  255 

Yahweh' s  throne-chariot,  see  Throne 
of  God 

Zechariah,  75,  77 ;  see  Satan,  the 
Zeugma,  162,  175,  186,  206,  222,  260, 

269,  274,  282,  290 
Zophar,  character  of,  187,  241 


II.    INDEX   AND    GLOSSARY   OF  HEBREW 
WORDS,   IDIOMS,  AND  FORMS 


'ohed    29.  13,    31.  19,    'wretched'    (cf. 

Prov.31.6),  135  f. 
'ed  31.  3,  'menace,'  'terror,'   262;  30. 

12,  'sinister,'  gen.  of  qual.,  233,  262 
'as  beraglajim,  230 
'or  qarob  17.  12,  222 
'othoth  21.  29,  'evidence,'  128 
'ehad,  'the  One,'  'One  God,'  264 
'afuiz,  Pi.  26.  9,  'to  veil'  (cf.  Syr.  eliad 

and  'ahad),  282 
'aJiar,  conjunction,  238 
'ahdrav)  37.  4,  -oeka,  39. 10  (cf.  Deut. 

12.30),    with    nominal    declension, 

179,  183 
'ish  sifathajim,  188 
'He  gll,  160 
'elloe  8.  2,  178 

'allef  15.  5,  'to  prompt,'  202 
'im,  emphatic  particle,  173,  175,  228, 

also  152  (42.  7) ;  'im  efo,  258 
'amma^  16.  5,  'to  comfort,'  210 
'orhoth,  'fate,'  178;  saM  'orhoth  S8.  20 

(  =  shafak  suldla),  233 
'ashur  23.  11,  'path,'  134 
'athd  3.    25  (cf.    Arab,  'atd,  'come  to 

be,'   c.    ace.    pers.    or   li,    'happen,' 

'befall'),  160  f.;  16.  22  (cf.  Arab,  'ata 

c.  'aid,  'to  end'),  120;  ' a. 'elaj  31.14: 

(cf ,   Arab,   'atd   'alajhi) ,  264  f . 

bi,  denoting  the  end  in  view,  271,  also 
279  (36.  32) ;  essentiae,  164,  203,  260, 
275,  290;   of  price,  221,  note 

Mfl,  Umo  fl,  228,  note,  237 

bd'  c.  ace.  pers.  15.  21,  20.  22  'come" 
or  'descend  upon,'  115,  244  f. ;  c. 
•aZ  pers.  2.11,  21.17,  'befall,'  92, 
128  f. ;  c.  IS  pers.  3.  25,' lay  hold  of,' 
94,  160  f.;  c.  lifne  pers.  13.  16, 
'approach,'  111;  c.  lifne  rei  3.  24, 
•take  the  place  of,'  94,  160;    c.  hS 


rei  41.5,  'penetrate,'  356;  c.  hen 
41.8,  'pass  between,'  356;  tabo' 
'elaeka  4.  5,  162 ;  c.  bemispar  3.  6, 
'be  included  in,'  93;  c.  sM'ela  6.8, 
'be  fulfilled'  (cf.  Prov.  13.  12),  98 

bahir,  'obscured,'  280 

bahar  'al,  'ordain,'  'decree  for,'  284 

bohar,  pass.  Qal,  275 

bitni,  24 

bajith,  'grave,'  159 

ben  shUroth,  'shut  in  by  walls,'  179, 
257  ;   bet  'dbanlm,  179 

bSkor  maweth,  230  f . 

bmio,  205,  256 

bSllma,  'vacuum,'  205,  256,  281 

bdmdthe  jam,  181 ;    'a6,  181 

hSne  ha-Mohim,  156 

boier,  'immature  young,'  206 

hi?sa'  6.  9,  27.  8,  164,  262 

basar,  'kin,'  200 

ga'al  3.  5,  'claii_  ,^  93 

gabar  21.  7,  'wax  mighty,'  127;  hith- 
gaber  36.9,  'vaunt  one's  power,' 
355;  hitkg.  c.  'el  pers.  15.  25,  'defy,' 
115 

gadal,  Pi.  7.  17,  'hold  worthy  of  es- 
teem,' 177 ;  higdll  'alaj  19.  5,  122,  233 

gur  c.  refl.  lakem  19.  29,  'beware,'  125 

gazar  'omer  22.28,  'decide  on,'  'form 
a  plan,'  133 

ga'ar  siha  15.  4,  202 

go'ash  34.  20  ?>,  'be  staggered,'  pass. 
Qal,  139,  270 

gara'  c.  'el  and  refl.  pron.  and  c.  ace. 
rei,  'make  one's  own,'  202 

dabber  bi,    'insult,'    237;     c.   U  pers., 

'  plead  a  person's  case,'  284 
dabar  4.2,   161;    rob  debarim,  'wordy 

person,'  161,  188 


364 


HEBREW  WORDS,  IDIOMS,  AND  FORMS     365 


dotal  28.4,   'to  wind,'   285  f. ;    dalla, 

'braid,'  'curls,'  286 
dam,  220  f . 

demama  weqol,  'faint  whisper,'  162 
darak  'al,  'have  dominion  over,'  181; 

hidrik  c.  ace.  pers.  and  'al  rei,  181  f . ; 

hidrik  c.  ace.  rei  28.  8,  '  tread, '  145 

he'Smln  be  39.12,  'rely  on,'  150;  Id' 
he'emin  29.  24,  'lose  confidence,'  213  ; 
W  he'emin  15.  22, '  cannot  hope,'  204  ; 
16'  he'emin  39.  24,  'stand  not  still,' 
150 ;  ne'emdnim  12.  20,  'self-reliant,' 
110 

hebel  7.  16,  'fleeting,'  101 ;  21.  34,  adv. 
ace.  'delusions,'  129;  hebel  habal 
27.  12,  'hold  to  delusions,'  134 

higbiah,  h.  'uf,  168 

higgld  11.6,  'reveal'  (cf.  Ps.  147.  19), 
107;  mispar  ?.  and  ace.  pers.  31.  37, 
'account  for,'  137;  millim  and  'eth 
mi  26. 4,  143 ;  'eth  le,  '  appoint  a 
season,'  275;  lefieleq  and  ace.  pers 
17.  5,  'invite  to  a  portion,'  209,  222 ; 
*al  panaw  and  ace.  rei  21.  31,  'cast 
up  to  his  face,'  129 

hawwoth  6.  30,  'abysmal  evil,'  abstract 
with  ending  6th  (cf.  Ps.  5.  10,  'en- 
gulfing ruin,'  57.2,  91.3  et  al), 
175 

hizgin  14.  8.  'decay'  (note  paral.),  198 

hehbir  c.  'al  16.  4,  210 

hiirift  37.  11,  'hurl,'  280 

hokah  6.  25,  15.  3,  'argue,'  'reason,' 
'prove,'  174,  175,  201  f. ;  c.  ace. 
pers.  5.  17,  13.  10,  22. 4,  40. 2, 
'correct,'  'judge,'  'chasten,'  're- 
buke,' 97,  111,  147,  287;  c.  le  pers. 
32.  12,  'refute,'  348 ;  c.  'el  pers.  13.  3, 
'plead  a  case  before,'  110;  c.  'im 
pers.  and  le  16.  21,  'plead  with  .  .  . 
for,'  222;  c.  ben  16.  21,  'take  sides,' 
222;  partic.  9.33,  'umpire,'  105; 
c.  'al  pers.  and  ace.  rei  19.  5,  '  con- 
vict one  of,'  122 ;  c.  'el  panaw  and 
ace.  rei  13.  15,  'justify,'  111;  h. 
millim  6.  26,  'juggle  with  words,' 
175;  nokah  c.  'im  pers.  23.  7,  'plead 
with,'  137;  tokeha  13.6,  23.4,  'rea- 
soning,' 'argument,'  110,  137 

ho'il  c.  li  rei  30.  13,  'to  eJEfect,'  234 ;  l6' 


jo'il    15. 3,    attributive    to    millim, 
'invalid,'  'unsound,'  114,  201  f. 

h6fi'a  3.  4,  intrans.,  'shine,'  93  ;  10.  22, 
impers.,  'it  grows  light,'  187 ;  37.  15, 
caus.,  'make  flash  forth,'  141 

halak  14.  20,  19.  10,  200 ;  c.  'el  'el 
34.  23,  'approach,'  271 ;  c.  min  pers. 
16.6,  'leave,'  210;  c.  min  entry 
20.25,  'enter,'  246 

hinne  9.  19,  ellipsis,  184 ;  in  apodosis, 
264 

hinnih  12.  23,  'lay  low,'  ellipsis,  195 

henif  jad  'al  31.  21,  'shake  the  fist  at' 
(cf.  Zech.  2. 13,  'brandish  the  hand'), 
136 

he'id  c.  ace.  pers.  29.  11,  'bear  witness 
to  a  person's  worth,'  212 

he'tiq  intrans.,  c.  min  pers.  32.  15, 
'leave,'  'desert,'  348;  trans.  9.6, 
'remove,'  103 

hafak  9.  5,  12.  15,  28.  9,  34.  25,  'over- 
turn,' 103,  109,  145,  270;  nehpak 
28.5,  'be  upheaved,'  145;  nephak 
c.  libbeka  beqirbeka,  'be  stirred,'  141, 
276 ;  nehpak  c.  be  pers.  19.  19,  '  turn 
against,'  124;  hohpak  'alaj  SO.  15,  'I 
am  overwhelmed  by,'  impers.  passive 
(cf.  Lam.  5.  5,  16'  hunah  lanu,  'we 
have  no  rest'),  235;  mithhappek 
37. 12,  'follows  its  zigzag  course,'  143 

hefis,  trans.,  37.  11,  'send  forth,'  143, 
280;  40.11,  'vent,'  151;  intrans., 
38.24,  'sweep,'  148;  hefi?uhu  b& 
raglaw  18.  11,  'press  close  upon  his 
heels,'  121 

hefer  (obj.  jir'a)  15.4,  'undermine,' 
114,  202;  parper  16.12,  'ruin' 
(suddenly),  119 

hirqib,  224  ;  tarqibeni  30.  22,  223  f . 
c.  ace.  pers.  and  'al  rei,  181  f. 
'enosh  lera'shenu,  182 

hir'ish  39.  20,  'make  sweep  on,'  150 

hishshd  11.  6,  188 

hishtappek  nefesh  30. 16,  'succumb,'  235 

hithgalgalu  30.  14,  234 

hithmalle'  c.  'al  pers.,  'be  banded  to- 
gether,' 215 

hith'allem  'al,  6.  16,  174 

waw  of  association,  168 

wajhi  hajjom,  use  of  article,  156 


366 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY 


z(B,  zoHh,  interjectional,  238 

zo'th  'immak,  186 

zimmoth    17.  11,     'thought,'     abstract 

with  ending  oth,  223 
za'ak,  constniction  of,  225 
zaqaq    36.27.     'distil,'     278;      28.   1, 

'refine,'  285 

liaha:  pass.  Qal  24.4,  'hide,'  129 
nehbd'  5.21,  'be  shielded,'  97 
nehba'  of  qol  29.  10,  'hushed,'  117 
hiihhabV  38.  30,  'freeze,'  148 

hoh,  264 

'liehel  39.  3,  'young,'  289 

}wlel  39.  1,  'travail,'  15.7,  passive  of, 
202;  26.5,  'shudder,'  282;  c.  U 
pers.  35.  14,  271 ;  hithJidlel  15.  20, 
'live  in  trembling,'  115 

hu?  18.17,  'land,'  231;  liu^otfi  5.10, 
'fields,'  169 

hush  20.  2,  '  be  wrought  up,'  243 

hezjondth  7.  14,  'nightmares,'  177 

hata\  'miss,'  172 

fieied,  190 

^laf  I  (ground  meaning,  'follow,' 
cf.  chalif,  'successor,'  i.e.,  of  the 
prophet),  4.  14,  'flit  past,'  95;  9.  26, 
'shoot  by,'  100;  9.  11  f.,  'sweep  by,' 
104  ;  hihllf  14.  7,  'sprout  anew,'  112  ; 
hihlif  29.20,  ellipsis,  211;  luillfa 
14.13,  'change,'  199;  halifoth  w^?- 
aha'  10.  17,  'relays  of  misery,'  186 

halaf  II  20.  24,  'pierce,'  246 

fieleq  31.  2,  'fellowship,'  262 

halash,  198 

tianndihl,  237 

hesed  mere'ehu  14.  13,  99,  174 

hdraboth,  'pyramids,'  158 

harad  c.  le  rei  37.  1,  'be  awed  at,'  278 

horef,  'prime,'  211 

haru^im  14.  15,  198 

hatham  be'ad,  'seal  up,'  181;  ^.  hejad, 
'tie  up,'  275;  hathum,  199 

tafal,  199 ;   'al,  199 
taraf  'appo  16.  9,  217 
teref,  256 

jagor  9.28,  'be  wrought  up'  (so  ren- 
dered by  Gk.),  184 

jad,  kol  jad,  ellipsis,  244  f . ;  Id'  bejad, 
247,  270 


jada'  c.  ben  pers.  34.  4,  'agree,'  349 

jehi,  not  used  as  indicative,  230,  245 

jomo  18.20,  'his  end,'  231 

ja§d'  c.  min  entry  20.  25,  'penetrate' 
(cf.  II  Ki.  9.  24  j.  millibo,  'pierced 
his  heart'),  246;  j.  pethaii  31.34, 
137,  264 

ja?uq  41.  15,  189  ;  'ebenj.  28.  2,  '  tough- 
tissued  as  stone,'  285 ;  musaq,  partic. 
11.  15,  'established  as  on  a  rock,' 
189;  subst.  37.10,  38.38,  'soUd 
mass'  (cf.  38.30),  189,  275;  nahar 
j.  jesodam  22.  16,  260 

jeser  Id  20.  22,  244 

je^raj  17.  7,  'my  body,'  216 

jether,  164;  jithri  pittah  30.  11,  215 

ke'eb  2.  13,  23.  15,  'affliction,'  43.  note  1 
kabbir   31.25,    'abundantly,'    136;     k. 

jamlm   15.  10,   'advanced  in  years,' 

114;    ruh  k.  8.  2,  'boisterous  wind,' 

102 
ken  5.27,  verb,   adj.,   'true,'   171;   16' 

ken,     185 ;      I.     k.     'immadi,     185 ; 

nekona     42.  7  f.,      'truthfully,'     65, 

note  2,  292 
kazzeb  6.28,   'dissemble,'   175;    34.6, 

'  appear  to  be  infamous,'  349  ;  hakzih 

24.  25,  'accuse  of  falsehood,'  131 
kihad  6.  10,  'deny,'  98 
kahashi,  216  f. 
kl,  emphatic,   197,  269;    in  apodosis, 

264;     introductory,    156,    160,    175, 

198 
kald  7.  6,  9,  'vanish,'  100,  177;   19.  27, 

'pine,'  239 
kelah  5.  26,  'ripe  old  age,'  97 
kissa  panim,  194 
ka'as  5.2,  'rage,'  96;    6.2,  'anguish,' 

98;   17.  7,  'weariness,'  118 
kefel,  'fold,'  'plate,'  356,  note  2 
kmr,  162 

U,  in  place  of  gen.  constr.,  194 ;  tem- 
poral, 251 

ld\  mistaken  reading  for  lu,  185,  227, 
265 

Id'  'or,  'dark,'  257 

Id'  darek,  'trackless,'  et  al..  195 

Id'  musaq  36.  16,  'unbounded,'  'bound- 
less,' 274 


HEBREW  WORDS,   IDIOMS,   AND  FORMS     367 


Id'  sMarim,  'chaos,'  187 

Id'  'oz  26.  2,  'powerless,'  142 

/o'  ra'u  (pass,  partic),  'invisible,'  280 

Mid'   jomo,    'prematurely,'   206;     Mid 

'eth,  260 
la'd  4.2,  5,  'be  weary,'  'despair,'  94; 

nU'a    17.   2,     226;    heVdnl,    16.    7, 

215 
la'at  15.  11,  'revealed  in  whispers,'  203 
labab,  Nif.,  189 
lehem  24.  5,  28.  5,  'grain,'  256 
(bi)lfium{d) ,  text-corruption,  245 
latash  'enaw,  217 
lakad    5.13,     'ensnare,'    97;      Hithp. 

38.30,    'frozen  solid,'    148;    Hithp. 

41.  9,  'be  interlocked,'  356 
lamad  21.  22,  'practice,'  250 
la'a  6.  3,  'be  frenzied,'  173 

lifne  'like,'  'in  place  of,'  160,  164;    'as 

long  as,'  202 
lafath  6.  17,  'to  wind,'  99 

ma'aS  c.  inf.  30.  1,  'hold  unwor&y  of,' 
214  f. ;  7.  10,  ellipsis,  177 

midclad  7.  4,  'drag  on,'  100 

md,  negative,  210,  262 

mum  11.  15,  'harm'  (cf.  Lev.  24.  19), 
189 

mdsd'  38.27,  'bud,'  289 

mahanak,  177 

metar  geshem,  279 

mitroth  g.,  279 

mallah,  etymology  of,  11,  note  1 

min,  denoting  agent,  255,  257,  285, 
see  also  nathan;  entry,  246 ;  'viewed 
by,'  162  f.,  269;  explicative,  169, 
242  f . ;  partitive,  188  197,  264,  also 
271  (34.  21) ;   privative,  269 

mdnlamd,  205 

masas   7.5,    'break  out   afresh,'    176 

42.  6,  'waste  away,'  292;  inf.  8.  19, 
179;  verb.  adj.  6.14,  99,  184; 
massath<d.2Z,  'despair,'  105,  184 

mispar   16.22,    'allotted,'    'appointed' 

(cf.  Exod.  23.26),  120 
ma'al  21.  34,  'infamy,'  129 
mifga'    7  20,    'target,'     101;     36.32, 

'goal,'  279,  see  bS 
mappah  nefesh,  190 
mippene  hoshek  17.  12,  222 
maqdm  le  16.  18,  221  f. 


mara?,  Hif.,  16.  3,  'ail,'  209  f. ;  nimraf, 
'be  forcible,'  175 

marashe  leb  17.  11,  223 

mishpat  13.18,  23.4,  'just  case'  or 
'cause,'  111,  137;  35.2,  'proof  of 
innocence,'  269;  34.4,  'right 
course,'  349 ;  32.  9,  adv.  ace, 
'proper,'  348,  note  2 

niggardth,  248 

n^dib,  'despot,'  256,  263 

nedudlm  7.  4,  plur.  tant.,  'tossing,'  100 

nadaf  32.  13,  'vanquish,'  348 

7iid  sefathajim  16.  4,  210 

nu'a  28.  4,  'wander,'  285  f. 

nis'aku,  225 

nahal  28.  4,  'shaft,'  145 

nahla  31.  2,  'communion,'  262 

niham  'al  42.  6,  'comforted  for,'  292 

nahath  36.  16,  'comfort,'  274 

nitminu,  229 

nata'  14.  9,  verb,  noun,  198 

nakdn  12.  5,  'kick,'  194 

neker  31.3,  'dread,'  262 

nikkar   34.19,    'regard,'    139;     Id'    n. 

21.29,  'disregard,'   124;  Hif.   7.  10. 

34.  25,  'behold,'  'see,'  100,  139 ;  Hif. 

2.  12,  4.  16,  'recognize,'  'discern,'  92, 

94;  Hif.  24.  13,  17,  'know,'  130 
nimhar,  'be  confounded,'  169 
nissa',  4.21,  'break  off,'  164  f. ;    Hif. 

19.  10,  'pluck  up,'  123 
na'ar,  'boy,'  25 
na'ar  24.  5,  'homeless,'  256 
nuppaha  20. 26,    247 ;    hippah    nefesh 

31.  39,  'snuff  out  a  life,'  135 
nafal  c.  min  pers.  12.  3,  'fall  short  of,' 

109;    c.  abs.  inf.   14.18,   'collapse,' 

199;    hippil  c.  'al  6.27,  'cast  dice,' 

ellipsis  (cf.  Josh.  23.  4,  I  Sam.  14.  42. 

Ps.  22.  19,  Neh.  10.  35),  99;    hippil 

panaw,  or  h.  'or  p.  29.  24,  213 
nefesh,  'serfs,'  200 
nafshi,   nafshekem,   6.  11,   7.  15,    10.  1, 

16.  14,  210 
nifialim  5.13,  'schemers,'  96 
ni^math  6.17,    'dwindle,'   99;    23.17, 

'be  overwhelmed'  (cf.  Pi.,  Ps.  88.  17, 

'overwhelm'),  285 
niqqd  9.  28,  10.  14,  'absolve,'  105  f. 
niqqar  (Nif.)  me'alai,  235 


368 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY 


nasd  panaw,  213 ;  n.  'or  panaw,  213 ; 
n.  mdrom  'enajim,  213,  note;  nose' a, 
tissd'eni,  ruh,  223  i.;  jissd'ehuwejelek 
27.  21  (cf.  qdmu  'amadu  29.  8,  'elek 
'essd,  Hos.  5.  14),  132,  212 

nishkah  mini  regel  28.  4,  285  f. 

nish'an,  abs.,  24.  23,  'be  full  of  con- 
fidence,' 'of  hope,'  251 

neshef  3.9,  'dusk,'  93;  7.4,  'dawn,' 
100 

nashaqjad  Ufa  31.  27  (cf.  Ezek.  3.  13 
and  remark  on  verbs,  p.   174),   136 

nesheq  39.  21,  'battle,'  290 

nathan  qarah  c.  min  agent,  37.  10,  'ice 
is  formed,'  141 ;  jitten  Id  lahetah,  251 ; 
mi  jitten,  197,  237 

nitta\  'be  stilled,'  162 

sahab  10.  8,  'turn  against  one,'  185 
sagar  c.  'al  pers.   12.11,  'fetter,'   109; 

sagUr  41.  7,  'linked  together,'  356 
^akan  22.  2,  text-corruption,  259 ;    lo' 

jiskon  15.  3,  intrans.,  attributive  to 

dabar,    'invalid,'    'have  no  weight,' 

201  f.;    hasken  c.   Hm  pers.  22.  21, 

'become  reconciled,'  133 
Sailed  6.  8,  'leap  for  joy,'  98 
sammer  4.  15,  'stand  on  end,'  95 
seflha,  'torrent,'  199 
suppah  30.  7,    '  be  huddled  together,' 

130 
sefer  31.  35,  'bill  of  indictment,'  266; 

37.20,    'writ,'  284 
iether    24.15,    'mask,'    130;     hasether 

31.27,  'mysteriously,'  136,  264 

'ab,  '  clouded  sky,'  280 

'ad,  adverb,  179,  198,  276 

'eda  16.7,  'legion,'  215  f. 

'dvnl,  'insolent  youth,'  215 

'awon,  'guilty  conscience,'  202 

'azab  c.  'al  and  refl.  pron., '  give  wa>  o,' 
185 

'uf,  234  f . 

'ur  41.  2,  trans.,  'stir  up,'  355  ;  14.  12, 
intrans.,  'stir,'  113;  he'lr  c.  al  pers. 
8.  6,  intrans.,  'be  moved  in  favor  of.' 
102;  hith'orar  30.31,  'be  elated.' 
'triumphant,'  136;  hith'orar  c.  'al 
pers.  17. 9, '  be  roused  to  confute,'  219 


'al  comparison,  277  ;   'in  spite  of,'  185 ; 

'on  account  of,'  275  ;    =  'el,  156 
'alal  16.  15,  'thrust,'  218 
'alumlm,  gender,  243 
'dloth  5.  26,  'be  brought  in,'  pass,  inf., 

97 
'im,  'in  the  presence  of,'  262 
'am  gdr,  285 
'aniad  4.  16,  37.  14,  'pause,'  'hold,'  95, 

141;    32.  16,  'stay  silent,'  348;    inf. 

23.  10,  'conduct,'  265 
'amal,  gender  of,  245 
'and  9.  32,  37.  23,  33.  13,  'give  account- 
ing,' 86,  105,  2S2  f.,  351 
'anwe  24.  4,  256  f. 
'afar,   'earth,'   238;    ellipsis,  45,  note, 

177,  228,  251 ;    'afar  wa'efer,  292 
'6?a  38.  2,  'design,'  147 
'ereb  7.4,  'night'  (cf.  Ps.  30.6,  Prov. 

7.9),  100 
'ard,  Nif..  247  f. 
'dreqaj  30.  17  b,  123 
'atta,    denoting    sequence,    197,    199; 

used  of  future,  178 
'athid,  'equipped  for,'  'expert  in,'  158 

pahad  21.9,  22.10,   'disaster'   (cf.  Is. 

24.18,  Prov.  3.25),   127,   131;    beli 

pahad   39.16,    'without   care,'   354; 

qol  pehadim  15.  21,  'dreadful  sounds,' 

115 
pid,  194 

pelagoth,  'herds,'  243 
pallah,  'strike,'  'thrust  through,'  217  f. 
pallet  mishpat  23.  7,  'obtain  right,'  265 
pelili,  263 

pa'al  c.  be  pers.,  269 
paqad  'al  36.  23,  'call  to  account'  (cf. 

paral.),  140 
para§,  218 
pere?,  218 
jyirha.  234 
pesha',  202 

saba',  'bondage,'  'toil,'  'misery,'  176, 

186 
siwwa  'al  36.  32,  'direct,'  143 
salmaweth,  157 
sela\  'fall,'  'ruin.'  230 
?a'ir,  'low,'  'contemptible,'  214  f. 


HEBREW  WORDS,  IDIOMS,  AND  FORMS     369 


^afan  23.  12,  'cherish,'  134;  $.lehmin 
17.4,  'close  the  mind  to,'  120; 
ni^pan  c.  'eth,  'set  apart,'  255 

qadmonim  18.  20,  231 

qadar,  'turbid,'  6.  16,  'gloomy,*  'grief- 
stricken,'  169 

qataf,  Nif.,  8.  12,  'be  nipped'  (cf.  Syr. 
'ethqetef,  used  of  'blasted'  hopes),  99 

qdmu  'amadu,  211 

gen  29.  18,  'brood,'  211 

qin'a  5.  2,  'passion'  (cf.  Cant.  8.  6),  96 

qasir,  211 

qin^e,  see  sim  q. 

qeshl,  269;  hiqsha  c.  '^l  pers.,  'deiy,' 
181 

rd'sh  kokabim,  '  starry  dome,'  260 

rab,  'mighty,'  271;  rob  kofi  23.6, 
'overwhelming  power,'  137;  rob  c. 
^Maga  37.  23,  'abounding  in,'  144; 
rob  c.  shanim  32.  7,  'advanced  in,' 
347;   rabboth  16.  2,  'enough,'  209 

rabbaw,  217 

ro(7e2  3.  17,  26,  14.  1,  'trouble,'  'agony,' 
94,  112;  rogez  qolo  37.  2,  'rumbling 
of  His  thunder,'  145  ;  ra'ash  wSrogez 
39.  24,  'rage  and  fury,'  150 

raga'  26.  12,  intrans.,  'be  stilled,'  282; 
rega'  21.  13,  'peace,'  249 

Tuh  mibbinathi,  242  f . 

rdmim  21.  22,  250  f. 

razam,  203 

rahab  36.  15,  ellipsis,  274 

rehem,  merehem,  ellipsis,  158,  287 

rahaq  c.  min  pers.  30.  10,  'hold  aloof,' 
118;  hirhik  c.  me'al  pers.  19.13, 
intrans.,  'hold  aloof,'  124;  hirhik 
13.  2,  trans.  '  remove,'  111 

resen  shillah,  215 

reshef,  168;  bene  reshef,  'impetuous 
spirits,'  168 

se^eth,  'appearance,'  'apparition,' 
'emerge,'  195,  265;  mas'eth,  195 

saba*  c.  min  or  ace,  237;  Zo'  tisba'u, 
nisba,  mibbesari,  —  o,  'not  get 
enough  of  feasting,'  'feast  without 
stint,'  237 ;  lo'  jada'  sabe'a,  244 

s<igi  koh,  282 ;  mishpat,  282 

8ih,  177 


Sim  'el  leb  36.  13,  '  heed,'  273 ;   c.  b^ 

23.  6,  265;  c.  'al,  271;  mibll  mesim 
4.20,  ellipsis,  'imheeded,'  164;  s. 
lamarom  5.  11,  'exalt,'  169;    s.  Wal 

24.  25,  'prove  to  be  empty,'  131 ;  s. 
qin^e  lemillim,  229 

se'ipjnm   20. 2,    'reason'    (cf.    paral.), 
242;  4.  13,  'reveries,'  162 

sho'a  I  {mhho'a)  30.  3,  38.  27,  225,  228 

sho'a  II  30.  14,  225,  234 

sha'al  c.  ace.  pers.,  225,  note;    c.  ace. 

rei,  225 
shUb  39.22,  'draw  back,'  150;    heshib 

39.  12,    'bring   home,'    150;     heshib 

20.  18,  'give up,'  126 
shaw,  176 
s/iw/,  184 

shUr  shehagim,  '  banks  of  clouds,'  276 
shahad  c.  ba'ad  pers.  6.  22,  'ransom,'  99 
sha'hath  9.  31,  'mire,'  185 
sheiefSS.  25,  'torrential  rain,'  288  f. 
shith  jad  ikaf)  'al,  185 ;  j.  'al  shenenu, 

'arbitrate,'   185;    sh.  c.    min    pers., 

'leave  in  peace,'  187 
shallah,  ellipsis,  25,  note  2,  178,  200 ;  sh. 

jad  c.  be  pers.,  'kill,'  227,  228,  note; 

shullah,  beraglaw,  230 
shalam  9.  4,  41.  3,  'escape  unscathed,' 

181,355 
Shalom  25.  2,  'harmony,'  141 
sham,,  shama,  21,  note  2,  159 
shame' a  wejiddemu,  212 ;  s/i.  wSjaqshibU, 

212 
shamam   c.    'aZ   ret    17. 8,    18.  20,    '  be 

appalled,'  119,  122;    hesham,  21.5, 

intrans.,    'be    dumbfounded,'     127, 

hesham,    16.7,    trans.,    'bring    ruin 

upon,'  215 
shen,  'jag,'  'peak,'  290 
sho'a,  'tyrant,'  263 
shafat,  Po.  partic,  'opponent,'  184 
shaqad  c.  'al  rei,  '  care  is  taken,'  252 
shaqat,  Hif.,  37.  17,  'lie  still,'  141,  213 
shoresh    28.9,    'base,'    145;     sharshe 

regel,  197 

tohH  6.  18,  26.  7,  'void,'  99,  281 ;  12.  24, 

'waste,'  110 
tahdla,  164 
tatDi,  '  I  stake  my  life  on,'  266  f . 


370 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY 


tushija,  'substantial,'  'salvation,'  169, 
173 

taUaw,  183 

tekuna  23.  3,  'abode'  (=  maqom),  137 

tamah  c.  'al  rei  36.28  b,  'marvel  at,' 
276;  c.  min  rei  26.  11,  'be  con- 
founded,' 144 

temim  de'im,  'absolute  wisdom,'  275  f. 

teman,  290 

to'a,  290 


ta'alumoth  hokma  11.  6,  188 

tifla,  156  ;  nathan  t.  c.  le  pers.,  'impute 
blame  to,'  156;  aim  t.,  'take  um- 
brage,' 156 

tafar  'al  16.  5,  'tie  around,'  110 

tofeth  lefanim,  'manifest  example,' 
216 

taqaf,  '  charge  on,'  204 

tshwh,  224  f . 

tsh'wth,  278 


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